Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Siamese Rama V Silver Baht
Western-style silver baht introduced under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Siam, replacing centuries-old bullet money with modern flat coinage.
Asian
Rama IV Siamese Baht (first machine-struck)
Landmark Siamese silver coin introduced under King Mongkut (Rama IV), marking the country's shift from traditional bullet-shaped money to modern, flat, machine-struck coinage.
Asian
Korean 1 Yang Silver (Joseon/Great Han Empire)
Silver 1 Yang coin from Korea's late Joseon currency reform of the 1890s, part of the kingdom's first modern, machine-struck decimal coinage.
Asian
Coat of Arms Fifty Cents (Elizabeth II)
Canada's modern fifty-cent piece, showing the Canadian coat of arms on the reverse since 1959 under successive obverse portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and, later, King Charles III.
Canadian
Chilean Peso Silver 'Condor'
Chile's standard silver peso coin, nicknamed the "condor" for the great Andean bird featured as a supporter on the national coat of arms depicted on the coin.
Latin American
1796 Half Cent
One of the great rarities of American copper coinage, the 1796 half cent was struck in the Liberty Cap design in a very limited quantity, with 'With Pole' and rarer 'No Pole' varieties known.
United States
1943 Steel Cent
A one-year-only zinc-coated steel cent struck to conserve copper for World War II ammunition and equipment production, easily recognized by its silvery color.
United States
1943 Bronze Cent
An extremely rare Lincoln cent mistakenly struck in leftover bronze planchets in 1943, a year when cents were officially made of zinc-coated steel to save copper for World War II.
Errors & Varieties
Cartwheel Penny (1797)
A massive, one-ounce copper penny struck in 1797 by Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint, nicknamed the Cartwheel Penny for its thick raised rim resembling a cart's wheel and axle.
British
Cartwheel Twopence (1797)
An enormous two-ounce copper twopence struck in 1797, the largest coin ever produced for circulation in Britain, made famous for its heavy raised cartwheel-style rim.
British
Australian 50 Cent (round 1966 silver)
Australia's original round 50-cent coin from the 1966 decimal changeover, struck in 80% silver and withdrawn the same year once its bullion value exceeded face value.
Africa & Oceania
Australian Penny (1930)
Regarded as the key date of Australian pre-decimal coinage, the 1930 penny is famous for an exceptionally small mintage during the Great Depression.
Africa & Oceania
1876-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
One of the great rarities of United States coinage: a Carson City twenty-cent piece of which nearly the entire mintage was melted, leaving only a small number of survivors known.
United States
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
1802 Draped Bust Half Dime
One of the great rarities of early U.S. coinage, with an extremely small original mintage and only a handful of genuine survivors known today.
United States
1931-S Lincoln Wheat Cent
A Great Depression-era key date with a comparatively low mintage from the San Francisco Mint, long recognized as one of the more important dates in the Lincoln Wheat cent series.
United States
1932-D Washington Quarter
The key date of the Washington quarter series, struck in Denver during the depths of the Great Depression with a very low mintage.
United States
1874-CC Seated Liberty Dime
A rare Carson City dime with arrows at the date, struck in small numbers and highly prized as one of the great condition rarities among CC-mint dimes.
United States
1873-CC Seated Liberty Quarter (No Arrows)
One of the great rarities of the Seated Liberty quarter series, this tiny Carson City issue predates the mid-1873 arrows-at-date modification and survives in only a handful of known examples.
United States
Half Groat
A small hammered silver coin worth half the value of the groat, or two pence, struck across three centuries of English coinage from the reign of Edward III through the Stuart era.
British
New Zealand Half Crown (pre-decimal)
The largest denomination in New Zealand's regular pre-decimal coin series, featuring the national coat of arms, circulated from 1933 until decimalization in 1967.
Africa & Oceania
Half Guinea
Smaller companion gold coin to the guinea, worth half its value, struck across the same reigns from Charles II through George III for mid-value transactions.
British
Quarter Guinea
A rarely issued small gold coin worth one-quarter of a guinea, struck only in 1718 under George I and again briefly in 1762 under George III.
British
Spade Guinea
A George III gold guinea nicknamed for its spade-shaped shield reverse, one of the last widely circulated guinea types before the denomination was phased out in the early 1800s.
British