Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Republican Quinarius
A half-denarius silver coin of the Roman Republic, often depicting the twin gods Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) riding on horseback.
Ancient
Cook Islands Colored Silver Coins
A broad category of colorful commemorative silver coins issued under the sovereignty of the Cook Islands, covering religious, historical, and pop-culture themes aimed at collectors worldwide.
Africa & Oceania
Wood's Hibernia Halfpenny
A British copper coinage patented by William Wood for Ireland, controversially rejected there but widely circulated instead in colonial America, where large surplus shipments ended up in everyday trade.
United States
Chilean 50 Pesos Gold
A mid-sized Chilean gold coin issued as part of the 1926 gold standard reform, sharing the condor design theme with its larger and smaller companion denominations.
Latin American
Angel
An English gold coin depicting the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, introduced in 1465 and famously used as a ceremonial 'touch piece' in royal healing rituals.
British
Dutch Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A silver trade coin of the Dutch Republic showing an armored knight and a rampant lion, exported in vast quantities to the Levant, Russia, and the American colonies.
European
Mexican Estados Unidos 1 Peso 'Morelos'
A mid-twentieth-century Mexican silver peso portraying independence hero José María Morelos, struck in fifty-percent silver for just a few years after World War II.
Latin American
Chinese Ban Liang Cash
China's first standardized round coin with a square center hole, introduced under Qin Shi Huang to unify currency across the newly consolidated Chinese empire.
Ancient
Netherlands Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A large silver trade coin of the Dutch provinces showing a knight and a rampant lion, widely circulated in colonial North America and the Ottoman world as the prototype 'lion dollar.'
European
Netherlands Rijksdaalder
A historic large silver crown-sized coin of the Low Countries, the rijksdaalder became a trusted trade coin across Europe for centuries and lent its name to the modern Dutch 2½-guilder piece.
European
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) EIC Rixdollar
A colonial currency unit continued by the British East India Company administration in Ceylon, inherited from earlier Dutch VOC rule and featuring an elephant design.
Asian
Spanish Colonial 8 Reales Ferdinand VII
A large silver 8 reales coin struck across Spain's American colonies bearing the portrait of King Ferdinand VII, widely circulated internationally and historically linked to the origin of the US dollar sign.
World
Massachusetts Cent (1787-1788)
State-issued copper coinage struck by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1787 and 1788, notable as the first official U.S. coinage to use the denomination 'cent'.
United States
Canadian Loonie
Canada's eleven-sided one dollar coin, introduced in 1987 with a common loon on the reverse, giving rise to its popular nickname.
Canadian
Mexican 8 Reales Cap and Rays
The classic silver dollar of independent Mexico, showing a radiant Phrygian liberty cap over mountains, widely trusted and traded across the Americas and Asia for most of the 19th century.
Latin American
Bolivia 8 Reales (Potosi Mint)
A major Spanish colonial and early Bolivian silver dollar struck at the legendary Potosí mint, fed by the immense silver deposits of the Cerro Rico mountain.
Latin American
Spanish Colonial Cob 8 Reales (Macuquina)
A crudely hand-struck Spanish colonial silver coin, cut from irregular silver bars and stamped with a cross and shield, famed worldwide as the original 'piece of eight'.
Latin American
Ryal
A large Scottish silver coin issued under Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, nicknamed the 'sword dollar' for the crowned sword on its reverse.
British
Ethiopian Birr (Menelik II)
Silver birr introduced by Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, modeled on the weight and fineness of the Maria Theresa thaler, featuring his crowned bust and the Lion of Judah.
Africa & Oceania
Colombian Peso Silver
Colombia's traditional silver dollar-sized coin, struck across different eras of the country's political evolution, from Nueva Granada through the modern Republic of Colombia.
Latin American
Maria Theresa Thaler
An Austrian silver trade coin dated 1780 that has been restruck continuously for over two centuries, remaining a trusted currency across parts of Africa and the Middle East long after its original issue.
European
French Indochina Piastre de Commerce
A large silver trade dollar issued by colonial French Indochina, weighted to match the Mexican and Spanish trade dollars already circulating throughout Southeast Asian and Chinese commerce.
Asian
Canadian Toonie
Canada's bimetallic two dollar coin, introduced in 1996 with a polar bear reverse, whose nickname blends "two" with "loonie."
Canadian
Kellogg & Co. Gold Piece
Private gold coinage struck by the San Francisco firm Kellogg & Co. during the California Gold Rush, including the famous octagonal fifty-dollar 'slug' of 1855, filling a shortage of circulating coin.
United States