Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Australian Fifty Cents
Australia's 50 cent coin bearing the national coat of arms. The 1966 round issue shown here was struck in silver; later 12-sided coins are cupronickel.
Australian
Unidentified Ancient Coin
A worn ancient bronze coin whose exact type is not yet identifiable — a right-facing profile portrait on one side and a faded design on the other.
Ancient
Abbasid Copper Fals
A hand-struck Abbasid copper fals dated AH 219 (834–835 CE), covered entirely in linear Arabic inscriptions with no portrait or figural imagery.
Islamic (Medieval)
Copper Fals of as-Salih Salih
A hand-struck medieval Islamic copper fals attributed to as-Salih Salih, covered on both faces in Arabic calligraphy with no portrait or figural imagery.
Islamic (Medieval)
Dirham of Caliph al-Mansur
An Abbasid silver dirham dated AH 150 (767 CE), from the reign of Caliph al-Mansur, bearing purely Arabic religious inscriptions and a named mint.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gold Dinar of Abu'l-Hasan Ali
A high-purity Islamic gold dinar dated AH 351 (961-962 CE) in the name of the Ikhshidid ruler Abu'l-Hasan Ali, struck in fully calligraphic Kufic script.
Islamic (Medieval)
Silver Dirham of Sayf ad-Din Inal
A thin Mamluk silver dirham of Sultan al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Inal (r. 1453–1461), covered on both faces with Arabic inscriptions naming the sultan and his titles.
Islamic
Dirham of Kamal al-Dawla Gharib
Silver dirham from 10th-century Iraq/Mesopotamia naming the ruler Gharib with the honorific Kamal al-Dawla, struck with Kufic Arabic legends.
Medieval Islamic
Gold Toman of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
A hand-struck Qajar gold toman of Fath-Ali Shah dated AH 1226–1227 (1811–1812), covered in ornate Persian calligraphy with no portrait or figural imagery.
Persia / Iran
Aguascalientes 20 Centavos
A copper 20 centavos struck in Aguascalientes during the Mexican Revolution in 1915, showing the denomination on one side and a large numeral 20 with the national eagle on the other.
Revolutionary
Unite of James I
A hammered gold pound coin of James I, named to celebrate the union of England and Scotland under one crown.
Hammered
5 Bolivares
A crown-sized silver 5 bolivares of Venezuela: the head of Bolivar the Liberator on one side and the national coat of arms on the other.
Circulation
Penny of Cynethryth
Anglo-Saxon silver penny of Cynethryth, queen of Mercia and wife of Offa, and the only Anglo-Saxon queen named on her own coinage.
Medieval Coins
Barbados 10 Cents
A small copper-nickel Barbadian 10-cent coin showing the national coat of arms on one side and the value and country name on the other.
Circulation
Qajar 5 Tomans Commemorative
A late Qajar gold 5 Tomans of Persia showing Ahmad Shah Qajar in a laurel wreath and the national Lion emblem, dated 1299.
Persia / Iran
Barbados 1 Cent
A modern copper-colored Barbados one cent: the national coat of arms on the obverse and the value on the reverse, the smallest coin of the Barbadian dollar.
Circulation
Penny of Offa
Thin silver penny of King Offa of Mercia, showing a portrait or name inscription and a cross with geometric ornament on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
20 Lei
Romania's first gold coin, the 1870 20 Lei of Prince Carol I, pairing his left-facing portrait with the national coat of arms.
Modern
France 1 Euro
France's bimetallic 1 euro coin, with a stylized leafy tree inside a hexagon on the national side and the euro value with a map of Europe on the common side.
Euro
1 Leu (Carol I)
Silver 1 Leu of the Kingdom of Romania under King Carol I, with his left-facing portrait and the crowned national arms, dated 1900.
Modern
1 Markka
Finland's bimetallic one-markka coin (1993–2001), with a crowned heraldic lion on one face and a large numeral 1 on the other.
World
Swiss 1 Franc
A silver Swiss 1 Franc dated 1861, with the figure of Helvetia and the national coat of arms on one side and the value '1 Fr' in wreaths on the other.
Circulation
Maundy Money Penny
Tiny silver penny given as royal alms; this James II example (1687) shows a crowned bust and a crowned Roman numeral I reverse.
Maundy
Gambia 1 Dalasi
A distinctive octagonal copper-nickel coin of The Gambia, showing the national coat of arms and the bold value 1 Dalasi dated 1998.
World