Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Danish 2 Rigsdaler
A large silver crown of the Kingdom of Denmark, double the standard rigsdaler denomination, often struck to commemorate specific royal events before Denmark adopted the krone in 1873.
European
Chinese Auto Dollar (Kweichow, 1928)
Famous Chinese provincial silver dollar depicting an automobile, struck in Kweichow province in 1928 and celebrated by collectors as one of the most distinctive Chinese coin designs.
Asian
Austrian Thaler (Joseph II)
A silver thaler bearing the portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, struck in the late 18th century and, like the more famous Maria Theresa thaler, later restruck for use in Levant and African trade.
European
Spanish Gold Escudo (Doubloon)
The gold denomination of the Spanish Empire, whose larger multiples became famous as "doubloons," struck both in Spain and across its American colonial mints for centuries.
European
Seated Liberty Dime
Struck for over five decades, the Seated Liberty Dime features Christian Gobrecht's seated figure of Liberty and includes many collectible date, mint, and arrows/rays varieties.
United States
Draped Bust Half Dime
Struck in small numbers from 1796 to 1805, the Draped Bust Half Dime is an early U.S. silver rarity featuring Robert Scot's Draped Bust Liberty portrait and small or heraldic eagle reverses.
United States
American Silver Eagle
The official one-ounce silver bullion coin of the United States, first struck in 1986, pairing Adolph Weinman's Walking Liberty design with a modern heraldic eagle.
Bullion
Ides of March Denarius (EID MAR)
A denarius struck by Brutus in 42 BC commemorating Julius Caesar's assassination, showing daggers and a liberty cap — one of the most famous and valuable ancient coins ever made.
Ancient
1943 Bronze Lincoln Cent
An extremely rare mint error in which a small number of 1943 Lincoln cents were accidentally struck in leftover bronze rather than the intended wartime zinc-coated steel.
Errors & Varieties
1943 'V' Victory Nickel (tombac)
A wartime Canadian five-cent coin struck in golden tombac with a bold V for Victory and a Morse code message around its edge, issued when nickel metal was diverted to the war effort.
Canadian
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin nicknamed the 'Broad' for its wide, thin flan, struck under the Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell and continued briefly into the early reign of Charles II.
British
1794 Flowing Hair Dollar
The very first silver dollar struck by the United States Mint, produced in extremely limited numbers and ranking among the most valuable American coins in existence.
United States
1950-S/D Washington Quarter Overmintmark
A 1950 San Francisco Washington quarter struck from a die where an S mintmark was punched over a leftover D, creating one of the best-known overmintmark errors in the series.
Errors & Varieties
Bavaria Thaler
The historic large silver coin of Bavaria, struck across centuries by its electors and kings, capturing the state's political and artistic history until Germany's currency unification in the 1870s.
European
Chinese Silver Dragon Dollar (Kwangtung Province)
One of China's earliest machine-struck silver dollars, produced by Kwangtung province in the late Qing dynasty with an imperial dragon design, a pioneering issue other provinces soon imitated.
Asian
Spanish Colonial Cob (Macuquina)
Crude, irregularly shaped hand-struck coins produced at Spanish colonial mints in the Americas for over two centuries, forming the basis of the famous 'pieces of eight' that circulated worldwide.
Latin American
Papal States Scudo
The principal silver coin of the Papal States, bearing the portrait or arms of the reigning pope alongside religious imagery, struck for centuries until the Papal territories' loss of independence.
European
Byzantine Gold Tremissis
A small gold fractional coin worth one-third of a solidus, widely struck across the early Byzantine world and imitated by Germanic successor kingdoms in the former Western Roman Empire.
Ancient
Louisiana Purchase Gold Dollar Commemorative
A 1903 commemorative gold dollar issued for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, struck in two varieties featuring the portraits of Thomas Jefferson and William McKinley.
Commemorative
1964 Kennedy Half Dollar (90% Silver)
The first-year Kennedy half dollar, rushed into production after President Kennedy's assassination, struck only in 1964 with a 90% silver composition before the alloy was reduced.
United States
1974 Aluminum Cent
An extremely rare experimental pattern struck in aluminum as a potential replacement for the copper cent amid rising metal costs, almost none of which were legally released to the public.
Errors & Varieties
Maundy Fourpence
The largest of the four Royal Maundy coins, a small silver fourpence descended in value from the medieval groat, struck annually for the monarch's ceremonial Maundy Thursday alms distribution.
British
Joachimsthaler
Struck beginning in 1520 in the Bohemian silver-mining town of Joachimsthal, this large silver coin gave its name, shortened to 'thaler' and later 'dollar,' to countless currencies around the world.
European
1944 Steel Lincoln Cent
A scarce transitional error in which a small number of 1944 cents were struck on leftover steel planchets after the Mint had already returned to bronze, the mirror-image counterpart to the famous 1943 copper cent.
Errors & Varieties