Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Thebes Stater
Silver stater of Thebes with the Boeotian shield and a bearded head of Dionysos, struck as federal coinage of the Boeotian League, c. 395-338 BC.
Ancient
Sestertius of Vespasian (Iudaea Capta)
Large Roman bronze sestertius of Vespasian (AD 70–71) marking the conquest of Judaea, with a palm tree and mourning captives on the reverse.
Ancient
Half Centenionalis of Constans or Constantius II
A small mid-4th-century Roman bronze attributed to Constans or Constantius II, sons of Constantine the Great, worn but identifiable by its imperial portrait and era.
Ancient
Gold Toman of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
A gold toman of Agha Mohammad Khan, founder of the Qajar dynasty, struck at Qazvin in AH 1206–1207 (1792–1793), covered in Persian calligraphy with no portrait.
Persia / Iran
Gold Dinar of Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad (Buyid)
A hand-struck gold dinar of the Iranian Buyid dynasty, naming the emir Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad and dated AH 358, covered entirely in Kufic Arabic with no imagery.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gold Tetradrachm of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II
Ptolemaic gold of Egypt, c. 260-240 BC, with paired busts of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II on one side and Ptolemy I and Berenike I on the other.
Ancient
Denarius of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius
Roman silver denarius of Antoninus Pius (138–161 AD), a dynastic type showing the emperor and the two young Caesars, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
Ancient
Bhutan 10 Sengtrum
A 1979 cupro-nickel minor coin of the Kingdom of Bhutan, worth one-tenth of a ngultrum, with the national arms on one face and an ornamental gateway on the other.
Himalayan
Romania International Year of Chemistry Commemorative
Romanian silver 10 lei commemorative dated 2011, issued for the International Year of Chemistry with molecular, laboratory and scientist imagery.
Commemorative
Library of Congress Bicentennial Silver Dollar
A 2000 U.S. silver dollar honoring the 200th anniversary of the Library of Congress, with a 'We the People' quill-and-scroll obverse and the Library facade on the reverse.
Modern Commemorative
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
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
Alexander the Great Gold Stater
Gold stater struck in the name of Alexander the Great, with a helmeted Athena obverse and Nike holding a wreath on the reverse; this example c. 323-315 BC.
Ancient
Antiochos the Child Tetradrachm
Silver Seleucid tetradrachm, c. 175 BC, with a young diademed head and a martial reverse figure with spear and shield.
Ancient
Alexander the Great Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of Alexander III of Macedon with the head of Heracles in a lion skin and an enthroned deity holding an eagle on the reverse.
Ancient
Alexander the Great Silver Drachm
Silver drachm in the name of Alexander the Great, with the head of young Herakles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned on the reverse.
Ancient
Alexander the Great Gold Quarter Stater
A small gold fraction of the Alexander the Great coinage, showing the head of Heracles and an eagle perched on a thunderbolt, the attributes of Zeus.
Ancient
Agathokles Commemorative Tetradrachm for Alexander the Great
Silver tetradrachm of Agathokles of Syracuse, c. 310-300 BC, struck in the Alexander tradition with a bearded head and an enthroned deity reverse.
Ancient
British Crown
A large George V silver crown of the 1927–1936 'wreath' type, showing the king's profile and a royal crown framed by an ornamental wreath.
British Isles
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
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
British Brass Threepence
Chunky twelve-sided nickel-brass threepence of George VI, showing his head and a thrift plant reverse; the example shown is dated 1942.
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
British Decimal Half Penny
The smallest UK decimal coin, a tiny bronze half-penny introduced with decimalisation in 1971, bearing a crown reverse and the Machin portrait of Elizabeth II.
British Isles