Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Sesquicentennial of American Independence Quarter Eagle
A 1926 U.S. commemorative $2.50 gold coin marking 150 years of American independence, with Liberty holding a torch and scroll and Independence Hall on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative
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
Bhutan 5 Sengtrum
A small cupro-nickel Bhutanese coin of 1979 worth five Sengtrum, with the national emblem on the obverse and a traditional architectural gateway on the reverse.
Himalayan
Prince Edward Island One Cent
Bronze one-cent coin struck in 1871 for the colony of Prince Edward Island, with Queen Victoria on the obverse and the island's name and date on the reverse.
Canadian & Provincial
Bermuda Edward VIII Fantasy Crown
A modern fantasy Bermuda crown dated 1936 with an Edward VIII profile and a three-masted sailing ship; a gold-plated novelty, not an official coin.
Fantasy Issue
1 Yen (Silver)
An early Meiji silver 1 Yen struck in Meiji 3 (1870), showing a coiled dragon with a radiant sun on one side and a wreathed imperial crest on the other.
Circulation
Draped Bust Half Dollar
Early U.S. silver fifty-cent piece of 1796–1807. The pictured 1796 Small Eagle with 15 stars is among the rarest of all American coins.
Half Dollar
Gold Chervonets
Soviet gold coin of 1923 worth one chervonets (10 rubles), showing a peasant sowing before a rising sun and factories, with the Soviet state emblem.
World
Canadian Ten Cents
Small silver Canadian dime with the Bluenose schooner reverse and an early Queen Elizabeth II portrait; the pictured coin is dated 1955.
Canadian & Provincial
Flowing Hair Stella
An 1879 U.S. $4 gold pattern coin with a flowing-hair Liberty obverse and a large-star "ONE STELLA" reverse; famous rarity, never circulated.
Stella
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
Clark & Co Territorial Gold Half Eagle
An 1860 privately struck $5 gold piece from Clark, Gruber & Co. of Denver, coined from Pikes Peak gold during the Colorado gold rush.
Half Eagle
Turban Head Quarter Eagle
First U.S. $2.50 gold coin (1796), designed by Robert Scot; Liberty in a soft cap facing right with a heraldic eagle reverse. Extremely rare.
United States
Holey Dollar
Australia's first struck coin: a Spanish silver dollar with its centre punched out, counterstamped NEW SOUTH WALES 1813 and revalued at five shillings.
Australian
Charles II Halfpenny
A milled copper halfpenny of Charles II showing his laureate bust and a seated Britannia, part of the first regal copper coinage of England, dated 1675.
Milled
Sierra Leone 20 Cents
A 1964 Sierra Leone 20 cents from the country's first decimal coinage, showing a portrait profile on one side and the national coat of arms with its lion on the other.
World
Capped Bust Eagle
The first United States gold ten-dollar coin, struck 1795–1804 with a capped Liberty bust and, in later years, a heraldic eagle bearing a shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States
Bank of England Dollar
A George III silver dollar issued by the Bank of England in 1804, struck over Spanish eight-reales coins, with a laureate bust and a crowned shield reverse.
Milled
Tymf
A debased Polish silver coin of 1663 tariffed at 30 groszy, famous for a Latin motto declaring the state's safety worth more than the metal.
Early Modern
French Semeuse 5 Francs
A silver French 5-franc coin of the Fifth Republic showing the Sower (Semeuse) striding left, with a flowered wreath around the value on the reverse.
Circulation
Philippines 50 Centavos
A 1960s Philippine 50-centavos coin in copper-nickel, its obverse showing an allegorical woman with a torch and its reverse the national coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
Bicentennial Quarter
U.S. 25-cent coin issued for the 1976 Bicentennial, pairing Washington's portrait with a Colonial drummer and the dual date 1776-1976.
Quarter
Maria Theresa Thaler
A large silver Austrian trade coin bearing the bust of Empress Maria Theresa, famously frozen at the date 1780 and restruck for centuries.
World
Kiautschou 5 Cents
A 1909 nickel 5 Cent coin of the German-leased Kiautschou Bay territory in China, pairing Chinese characters with the German imperial eagle.
Colonial