Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
4 Maravedis
A copper Spanish coin struck in the names of Carlos and Joanna, worth four maravedis (one cuarto), carrying the crowned royal arms and Pillars of Hercules.
Circulation
8 Escudos (Carolus)
The largest Spanish gold coin of the age, the 8 Escudos or doubloon, struck under the Habsburg Carolus rulers with the crowned quartered royal arms.
Early Modern
Counterstamped 8 Reales
A Charles IV silver 8 reales later punched with counterstamps and pierced with a central hole, layering a second life onto the classic Spanish dollar.
Colonial
Spanish Doubloon (8 Escudos)
Large Spanish gold coin worth eight escudos, showing the right-facing bust of King Charles IV and a crowned Spanish shield with a cross.
World Coins
8 Reales (Portrait/Bust Type)
Large silver Spanish Empire dollar showing the bust of King Carlos III and a crowned coat of arms with lions and castles.
World Coins
Spanish Colonial Cob 8 Reales
A hand-struck silver cob 8 reales of Spain's American colonies—the irregular, hammered “piece of eight” bearing the crowned Habsburg arms and Pillars of Hercules.
Cob Coinage
Central American Republic 8 Reales
A silver 8 reales of the Central American Republic, showing a rayed sun rising over mountains on one side and a tree on the other, dated 1824.
Circulation
Colombia 8 Escudos (Base Metal)
A base-metal (copper-alloy) piece styled after the colonial Colombian 8 escudos gold onza, with a Charles III profile and crowned heraldic arms dated 1760.
Colonial
Spanish Colonial 8 Reales (Milled Bust)
The milled-bust Spanish colonial 8 reales—the classic “piece of eight,” a large silver coin bearing the Spanish king's portrait and royal arms.
Colonial
Islamic Gold Dinar (LACMA M.2006.143.8)
A medieval Islamic gold dinar in the LACMA collection, struck with purely calligraphic Arabic legends and a decorative border — the classic imageless coin of the caliphates.
Islamic (Medieval)
Almoravid Gold Dinar
Pure-gold dinar of the Almoravid dynasty, struck in Islamic Spain and North Africa with concentric Arabic legends; this piece is dated 1116 CE.
Medieval Islamic
Travancore Eight Cash
Small copper 8 Cash of Travancore State, southern India, showing the princely conch-shell emblem within a floral wreath and a denomination in local script.
Princely & Presidency States
Pillar Dollar (Columnario)
Machine-struck Spanish colonial silver 8 reales showing two crowned globes between the Pillars of Hercules; a trusted world trade coin.
World Coins
Eighth Thistle Merk
A small hammered silver Scottish coin of James VI, showing a crowned heraldic shield of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
George IV One Eighth Spanish Dollar
Small 1822 British colonial silver coin from the George IV "Anchor Money," a fraction of the Spanish dollar used in the West Indies and Mauritius.
Colonial
Half Escudo (800 Reis) of Joao V
A small Portuguese gold coin of King Joao V, valued at half an escudo (800 reis), with his laureate bust and a crowned Portuguese shield.
Colonial
George-noble
A rare Tudor gold noble of Henry VIII showing St George slaying the dragon, valued at 6 shillings 8 pence.
Hammered
Silver Dirham (LACMA M.2002.1.437)
A thin, broad 8th-century Islamic silver dirham covered in Kufic Arabic inscriptions, with no portrait or image — only religious legends and decorative flourishes.
Islamic (Medieval)
Anglo-Saxon Styca
A tiny base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, struck in the 8th-9th century with a head and inscription on one side and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
Dirham of Sistan
A silver Umayyad dirham struck at the Sijistan (Sistan) mint in AH 82 (701–702 CE), its faces filled with Kufic Arabic inscriptions ringed by concentric borders.
Islamic (Medieval)
Canadian 50 Cents
Canada's mid-century silver 50-cent piece bearing King George VI, struck in 80% silver with the Canadian coat of arms.
World Coins
Denarius of Domitian
Silver denarius of the emperor Domitian (81-96 AD), with his laureate portrait on the obverse and, typically, the goddess Minerva on the reverse.
Ancient
French Cérès 1 Franc
A .835 silver French 1 Franc showing the goddess Cérès in a liberty cap; this example is an 1895 Third Republic issue with a wreath-and-value reverse.
Circulation
Denier of Charles the Bald
A small hammered silver denier of the Carolingian king Charles the Bald (r. 840–877), pairing a cross or monogram design with a ruler's profile.
Medieval