Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1 Euro Coin
The standard circulating one-euro coin used across the Eurozone since 2002, bimetallic with a gold-colored center and silver-colored ring, and a national obverse that varies by issuing country.
European
Japanese 1 Yen Silver Coin
Japan's principal large silver coin of the Meiji era, featuring a coiled dragon, that became a major East Asian trade coin and a symbol of Japan's rapid currency modernization.
Asian
Argentine 1 Peso 'Liberty Head'
A short-lived Argentine silver peso from the early 1880s featuring a Liberty head design, struck only briefly before Argentina's monetary standards shifted.
Latin American
1942/1 Mercury Dime Overdate
A famous overdate error, this Philadelphia Mercury Dime shows remnants of a 1941 digit beneath the 1942 date, created when an old die hub was reused by mistake.
Errors & Varieties
50 Euro Cent Coin
A gold-colored circulating euro coin worth half a euro, struck in a copper-based Nordic gold alloy and easily recognized by its distinctive scalloped-edge shape and national obverse design.
European
Fugio Cent
The first coin authorized by the United States government, featuring a sundial, the word 'Fugio,' and the motto 'Mind Your Business,' often linked to Benjamin Franklin.
United States
Peru 1 Sol Silver 'Seated Liberty'
A classic Peruvian silver coin showing a seated female Liberty figure holding a shield and staff, struck intermittently over several decades at the Lima mint.
Latin American
Type 1 Liberty Head Gold Dollar
The first United States gold dollar, a tiny coin introduced during the California Gold Rush and among the smallest coins ever struck by the U.S. Mint.
United States
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (1 oz)
Canada's flagship gold bullion coin, struck in .9999 fine gold by the Royal Canadian Mint since 1979, among the purest gold coins ever issued.
Bullion
1942/1-D Mercury Dime Overdate
The Denver counterpart to the famous 1942/1 overdate, this Mercury Dime shows a doubled date from reused 1941 die-making equipment and is scarcer than the Philadelphia version.
Errors & Varieties
Mexican Estados Unidos 1 Peso 'Morelos'
A mid-twentieth-century Mexican silver peso portraying independence hero José María Morelos, struck in fifty-percent silver for just a few years after World War II.
Latin American
1917 Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter
The original 1916-1917 Standing Liberty quarter design showing Liberty with an exposed right breast, before the design was modified later in 1917 for modesty.
United States
Japanese 1 Yen Silver 'Dragon' Trade Dollar
A Meiji-era Japanese silver yen featuring a coiled dragon, struck to standardize Japan's currency and, in a special trade dollar variant, to compete with Mexican and other silver dollars across East Asia.
Asian
Lincoln Wheat Cent
The first widely circulated U.S. coin to feature a real historical figure, Abraham Lincoln, with two stylized wheat stalks on the reverse; one of the most collected coins in America.
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
1936 Dot Cent
One of Canada's rarest coins: a 1936-dated cent quietly struck in 1937 with a tiny raised dot below the date after King Edward VIII's abdication delayed new George VI dies.
Canadian
1793 Chain Cent
The very first cent struck for circulation by the U.S. Mint, dated 1793, famous for its short-lived and controversial 15-link chain reverse.
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
1944 Steel Cent
A rare Lincoln cent mistakenly struck on leftover steel planchets in 1944, the reverse counterpart to the famous 1943 bronze cent error.
Errors & Varieties
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
Flying Eagle Cent
The first small-size U.S. cent, introduced in 1856 to replace the large copper cent, featuring a flying eagle obverse designed by James B. Longacre.
United States
1921 Fifty Cents (King of Canadian Coins)
Canada's most famous rarity, the 1921 fifty-cent piece survives in only a small number of known examples after most of its mintage was melted, earning it the nickname King of Canadian Coins.
Canadian
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
Sun Yat-sen 'Memento' 1 Dollar (1927)
Silver dollar bearing the portrait of Sun Yat-sen, struck to commemorate the founding of the Republic of China and widely circulated under the Nationalist government.
Asian