Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Medal of Honor Commemorative Half Eagle
US 2011 gold $5 commemorative honoring the Medal of Honor, showing the Army version of the medal above a Corinthian column.
Commemoratives
5 Francs (First Republic)
A large silver 5-franc crown of the French First Republic, dated by the revolutionary calendar as L'an 9 (1800–1801), with a right-facing Liberty head.
Circulation
Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 (Octagonal)
An eight-sided $50 gold commemorative struck for San Francisco's 1915 world's fair, showing Minerva and her owl — the largest U.S. coin of its era.
Classic Commemorative
Philippines One Peso
A silver peso struck for the U.S.-administered Philippine Islands, with a standing Liberty and torch and an eagle-over-shield reverse naming the United States.
Southeast Asia
Philippines 10 Centavos
A small silver 10 centavos of the American-era Philippines: a standing Liberty figure and Mayon volcano on one side, the U.S. eagle and shield on the other.
Southeast Asia
Draped Bust Half Dime
An early U.S. silver five-cent piece showing a draped bust of Liberty ringed by stars; the tiny half dime was struck 1796–1805.
Half Dime
French Semeuse 1 Franc
France's classic silver 1 franc showing the Semeuse (Sower) with a liberty cap, backed by an oak-and-olive wreath around the value; this example is dated 1916.
Circulation
French Cérès 1 Franc
A .835 silver French 1 Franc showing the goddess Cérès in a liberty cap; this example is an 1895 Third Republic issue with a wreath-and-value reverse.
Circulation
French Semeuse 50 Centimes
A small French silver coin showing the striding Semeuse (Sower) with a liberty cap; the reverse frames the value 50 CENTIMES in an oak-and-olive wreath.
Circulation
Swiss 5 Francs
Large .900 silver Swiss crown of 1888–1916, showing a Helvetia head on one face and the Swiss cross shield within a wreath on the other.
World
French Cérès 2 Francs
A French Third Republic silver 2 francs showing the goddess Cérès in a liberty cap, with the value 2 FRANCS in a wreath on the reverse.
Circulation
Hryvnia
Medieval silver money unit of Kievan Rus, circulating as cast silver ingots and weight-money rather than as a struck, portrait-bearing coin.
Medieval
Arles Miliarensis
A late Roman silver miliarensis of the 4th century AD, with a diademed imperial portrait and an armed standing figure holding spear and shield.
Ancient
Edward VI Crown
Hammered English silver crown of Edward VI (1547-1553), the first English crown coin and among the earliest English coins to carry a date.
Hammered
Miliarensis of Constantius II
A late Roman silver miliarensis of Emperor Constantius II (AD 327–361), showing his diademed portrait and a standing reverse figure.
Ancient
Medieval Penny
England's standard medieval coin: a small hammered silver penny with a crowned royal head on one side and a cross on the other, struck by hand across many reigns.
Medieval Coins
Irish Gun Money Sixpence
A base-metal emergency sixpence struck for James II in Ireland during the Williamite War, its brass alloy cast from melted guns, bells, and scrap.
Emergency Coinage
China 10 Yuan Temple of Heaven
A modern Chinese silver 10 Yuan commemorative bearing the Temple of Heaven's Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, dated 1996.
World
1 Bu Gin
A small rectangular Japanese silver coin, the ichibu gin, worth one bu (a quarter ryo), bearing beaded borders, paulownia crests and Ginza inscriptions.
Historic
Denarius of Septimius Severus
Silver denarius of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (193–211 AD), showing his laureate head and a standing reverse figure.
Ancient
Bhutan 500 Ngultrum Commemorative
Modern Bhutanese silver commemorative dated 2008, with a portrait of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and an ornate dragon-and-mythical-creature reverse.
Himalayan
Capped Head Half Eagle
A U.S. five-dollar gold coin struck 1813–1834, showing a left-facing capped Liberty with stars and a heraldic eagle bearing a shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States
Denarius of Commodus
A silver denarius of the Roman emperor Commodus (180–192 AD), with his laureate bearded portrait and a standing deity or personification on the reverse.
Ancient
1 Franc Semeuse
A small silver French franc showing Roty's Semeuse, the striding Sower scattering seed at dawn, with the 1916 date on the LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE reverse.
Circulation