Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Portuguese Escudo
Portugal's national currency unit from the 1911 decimal reform, following the fall of the monarchy, until the Euro replaced it in the early 2000s.
European
Shield Nickel
The first copper-nickel five-cent coin, the Shield Nickel features a national shield on the obverse and was issued from 1866 to 1883, including rare rays and proof-only dates.
United States
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
Lincoln Shield Cent
The current Lincoln cent reverse, introduced in 2010, depicts a Union shield replacing the earlier Lincoln Memorial design as the fourth reverse in the cent's history.
United States
1880 Shield Nickel
A major key date of the Shield Nickel series with an extremely low business-strike mintage, making genuine circulated examples much scarcer than the coin's proofs.
United States
Colombian 8 Escudos Gold (Popayán)
A large colonial gold doubloon struck at the historic Popayán mint in present-day Colombia, prized by collectors as one of the classic Spanish colonial gold coins of South America.
Latin American
Argentine 8 Escudos Gold (1813)
An extremely rare gold coin from the earliest years of Argentine independence, struck briefly at Potosí under revolutionary authority and bearing the iconic Sun of May.
Latin American
Spanish Colonial Gold Escudo (Doubloon)
The gold coinage of the Spanish American colonies, popularly nicknamed the doubloon, struck in denominations up to 8 escudos and famous from pirate and shipwreck lore.
Latin American
Thebes Boeotian Shield Stater
A silver stater from Boeotia bearing the distinctive figure-eight-shaped Boeotian shield, the common civic emblem struck by Thebes and its allied cities for centuries.
Ancient
1867 Shield Nickel No Rays
The revised Shield Nickel design with the rays removed from between the reverse stars, introduced to solve die-breakage problems experienced with the original 1866 design.
United States
1866 Shield Nickel With Rays
The first-year Shield Nickel design featuring thirteen rays between the reverse stars, marking the debut of the United States' first copper-nickel five-cent coin.
United States
Belgian 5 Francs
A large silver crown of the newly independent Kingdom of Belgium, bearing the portrait of Leopold I or Leopold II and the national coat of arms, a flagship coin of the young nation's currency.
European
Italian 5 Lire
A large silver crown of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy, bearing the portrait of the reigning king and marking Italy's emergence as a single national currency after centuries of regional coinages.
European
Egyptian Farouk 5 Piastres
Silver five-piastre coin of the Kingdom of Egypt struck during the reign of King Farouk, featuring his portrait or cipher alongside Arabic denomination legends.
Africa & Oceania
French 5 Francs "Napoleon"
A large silver crown-sized coin bearing the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, first as First Consul and later as Emperor, marking France's decimal franc system's early flagship silver denomination.
European
Netherlands 5 Gulden Gold
A gold 5 gulden coin struck intermittently by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, first under King William I in the 1820s and later as a rare 1912 commemorative under Queen Wilhelmina.
European
Swiss 5 Francs Silver
The Swiss 5 Francs was Switzerland's largest circulating silver coin for over a century, featuring the standing figure of Helvetia, and remains a favorite among collectors of European silver crowns.
European
1878 Shield Nickel (Proof Only)
Another proof-only rarity in the Shield Nickel series, struck exclusively for collectors with no business-strike coinage issued for circulation that year.
United States
1877 Shield Nickel (Proof Only)
A major Shield Nickel rarity struck exclusively as proof coinage for collectors, with no business strikes produced for circulation that year.
United States
German Empire 5 Mark
A large silver crown of Imperial Germany bearing the portrait or arms of individual constituent states, unified under a common eagle reverse after German unification in 1871.
European
French 5 Francs Hercules
A large silver crown depicting an allegorical Hercules flanked by Liberty and Equality, struck at pivotal republican moments in French history as a statement of civic ideals.
European
Italian 5 Lire Silver
The silver 5 Lire was the largest circulating silver coin of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy, featuring the portraits of its early kings and the national eagle, and remains a favorite of Italian collectors.
European
German 5 Deutsche Mark Commemoratives
West Germany issued special silver 5 Deutsche Mark coins from the 1950s through the mid-1980s to mark anniversaries, institutions, and notable Germans, alongside its regular circulating 5 DM coin.
Commemorative
Swiss 5 Francs Shooting Thaler
A series of commemorative Swiss silver crowns struck to mark the national Federal Shooting Festival, celebrating Switzerland's civic militia tradition through distinctive cantonal designs.
European