Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Half Sovereign
A small British 22-carat gold coin worth ten shillings; this example shows Queen Victoria's veiled, crowned Jubilee Head portrait and is dated 1887.
World Coins
British Britannia Silver Coin
A modern UK bullion coin in fine silver, carrying a face value of 2 Pounds and the classic seated figure of Britannia with shield and trident.
Bullion
British Florin
A Victorian silver two-shilling florin with a crowned, veiled Victoria and a heraldic crowned-shields reverse; the pictured coin is dated 1890.
World
Gothic Florin
A silver two-shilling florin of Queen Victoria in the medieval-revival Gothic style, with an ornate crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1869.
Milled
Victorian Crown
Large Victorian silver crown showing Queen Victoria's veiled "Old Head" portrait and Pistrucci's Saint George slaying the dragon, dated 1893.
World Coins
Maundy Three Pence
A tiny sterling-silver threepence tied to Britain's Royal Maundy tradition; the photographed 1687 coin shows James II's bust and a crowned Roman numeral III.
Maundy
British Trade Dollar
British silver trade dollar for Far East commerce, with seated Britannia holding a trident and shield and a Chinese dragon reverse.
Dollar
British Third Farthing
A tiny 1844 Victoria copper coin: young left-facing queen's bust obverse, crowned value reverse. One of Britain's smallest denominations, struck for Malta.
Circulation
Una and the Lion Five Pounds
William Wyon's 1839 gold Five Pounds pairs a young Queen Victoria with Una guiding a lion — widely praised as one of the most beautiful British coins ever struck.
British Isles
Gold Sovereign
The British gold sovereign: a one-pound gold coin. This 1817 George III example shows a laureate bust and a crowned heraldic shield of the royal arms.
World
Godless Florin
Britain's first florin, struck only in 1849 and nicknamed "Godless" because it dropped "Dei Gratia" from Queen Victoria's titles.
British Isles
British Silver Threepence
Tiny sterling-silver threepence of Queen Victoria; the young-head type shown here dates to 1858 and is one of Britain's smallest circulating coins.
British Isles
Imitation Guinea Gaming Piece
A brass or bronze token imitating a George III spade guinea, made for card games and gaming tables rather than as legal-tender money.
British Isles
British Shilling
Small Victorian silver shilling showing Queen Victoria's crowned, veiled Jubilee portrait and a crowned heraldic shield reverse.
World Coins
Shilling of Victoria
A milled sterling-silver British shilling of Queen Victoria, worth twelvepence, with the queen's head on the obverse and a crowned 'ONE SHILLING' reverse.
Milled
Spade Guinea Token
A base-metal imitation of the George III spade guinea, made as a gaming counter or advertising token, with a male profile obverse and a spade-shaped shield reverse.
Token
Groat of William IV
A small silver fourpenny piece of William IV (1836–1837), with a seated Britannia reverse; the coin that revived the modern British groat.
Milled
Guinea Counter (Imitation)
A brass or bronze gaming counter made to imitate a George III guinea, showing a faint male profile and a shield reverse; a token, not money.
Token
Gold Guinea
English gold coin of the Guinea denomination; the example shown bears the right-facing bust of Charles II with a crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1668.
World Coins
Counterfeit Guinea
A base-metal (copper or brass) imitation of a George III gold guinea, struck or cast to deceive, showing a right-facing bust and a heraldic shield reverse.
Counterfeit
Cartwheel Twopence
The massive 1797 copper twopence of George III, famous for its broad raised rim and full ounce of copper, struck at Boulton's Soho Mint.
Milled
Irish Pistole
A rare hammered gold emergency coin of 1640s Ireland, marked with its weight in pennyweights and grains rather than a portrait, and rated as a pistole.
Hammered
Grosz Koronny
A silver Crown grosz of the Kingdom of Poland, dated 1527, with a royal crown above a shield on one side and the Polish Eagle on the other.
Early Modern
Speciedaler
Large early-modern Norwegian silver crown of the Dano-Norwegian kingdom, showing a crowned royal bust and the Norwegian lion shield, dated 1628.
Early Modern