Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
20 Lire
Silver-colored Italian 20 Lire piece of the Fascist era, showing a Mussolini profile and a horse-drawn chariot, dated 1936.
Modern
2 Lire
Silver 2 Lire of the Papal States struck under Pope Pius IX, part of the Italian lira system adopted by Rome in the 1860s.
Modern
100 Lire
Italy's 1979 100 Lire, a nickel-hued FAO commemorative with a woman's profile on the obverse and an allegorical figure beside the value on the reverse.
Modern
500 Reis
A Portuguese silver 500 Reis of Queen Maria II, with her left-facing draped bust on the obverse and a crowned coat of arms on the reverse.
Modern
Tanzania 500 Shillings
A modern base-metal circulating coin of Tanzania carrying a right-facing portrait long associated with the nation's founding president and a Kiswahili legend.
World
Bhutan 500 Ngultrum Commemorative
Modern Bhutanese silver commemorative dated 2008, with a portrait of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and an ornate dragon-and-mythical-creature reverse.
Himalayan
500 Yen Bicolor Clad
Japan's large two-tone 500 yen circulation coin, with a floral blossom design and pearl-like beading on one face and bold value numerals on the other.
Circulation
500 Yen Niigata Prefecture Commemorative
A modern Japanese 500 Yen commemorative for Niigata Prefecture, showing a traditional ship that celebrates the region's maritime and port heritage.
Commemorative
500 Yen Japanese Immigration Commemorative
A 2008 Japanese 500 yen commemorative marking 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil, with two figures on one side and a ship on the other.
Commemorative
50 Öre (Silver)
A small Swedish silver 50 ore of the Oscar II era, dated 1898, with the value and date in a laurel wreath on one side and the crowned Swedish arms on the other.
Modern
Canadian Silver Dollar
Canada's first circulating silver dollar, the 1935 Voyageur type, showing George V and a canoe with paddlers on the reverse.
Canadian & Provincial
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
Almohad Silver Dirham
A distinctive square silver coin of the Almohad Caliphate, covered on both faces with geometric Arabic religious inscriptions.
World
Buyid Silver Dirham
Broad, thin silver dirham of the Buyid (Buwayhid) dynasty, struck in Kufic Arabic with religious legends and marginal mint-and-date text.
Medieval Islamic
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
Ottoman Silver Coin
A silver coin of the Ottoman Empire bearing the sultan's tughra monogram amid floral ornament, with Arabic-script inscriptions on the reverse.
World
Silver Rupee of Ahmadabad
Hand-struck Mughal silver rupee of Emperor Akbar from the Ahmadabad mint in Gujarat, dated Regnal Year 47.
Mughal India
Indian Silver Coin
A silver coin of British India bearing Persian/Urdu calligraphy and a mint mark, in the Mughal-derived inscriptional style of Company-era coinage.
British India
Macedonian Silver Tetradrachm
Large silver tetradrachm of ancient Macedon in the Alexander type, c. 188-170 BC, with the head of Heracles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned holding an eagle.
Ancient
1 Gulden (Silver)
Silver 1 Gulden of the Free City of Danzig, dated 1923, carrying the city's coat of arms and its own short-lived currency between the World Wars.
Modern
French Silver Franc
A small Third Republic silver 1-franc coin with an allegorical Marianne head and a REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE reverse; the pictured piece is dated 1899.
World
Najd Silver Coin
Silver trade coin catalogued to Najd, central Arabia, bearing a left-facing Victoria Queen bust and an 1862 date in the British India rupee style.
Arabia
Somalia Silver Leopard
One-ounce fine-silver bullion coin from Somalia's African Wildlife series, showing a prowling leopard on the obverse; this example is dated 2022.
Bullion
Abbasid Silver Dirham
A thin, broad Islamic silver coin of the Abbasid Caliphate, covered edge to edge with concentric Kufic Arabic inscriptions and dated AH 132 (AD 749–750).
Islamic