Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Medieval Coin
A worn hammered silver coin of the medieval era, with faded profile, legends, and a heraldic or emblematic reverse.
Hammered
Ancient Roman Coin
An unattributed ancient bronze coin of the Roman Empire, showing a right-facing portrait head on the obverse and a figure or heraldic design on the reverse.
Ancient
Unidentified Ancient Coin
A worn ancient bronze coin whose exact type is not yet identifiable — a right-facing profile portrait on one side and a faded design on the other.
Ancient
Medieval Penny
England's standard medieval coin: a small hammered silver penny with a crowned royal head on one side and a cross on the other, struck by hand across many reigns.
Medieval Coins
Ancient Sicilian Silver Coin
A silver coin of ancient Greek Sicily, showing a female goddess or nymph head on one face and a two-horse chariot (biga) on the other.
Ancient
Glycon Bronze Coin
Roman provincial bronze of the 2nd century AD showing the snake-god Glycon: a bearded serpent head on one side and a coiled snake on the other.
Ancient
Bronze Coin of Cleopatra VII
Ptolemaic bronze coin of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, 51-30 BC, showing her draped diademed bust in profile as sole named female ruler of the dynasty.
Ancient
Bronze Coin of Corinth (Augustan)
A Roman colonial bronze struck at Corinth during the reign of Augustus, showing a laureate imperial portrait; the example here has a badly corroded reverse.
Ancient
Syracuse Bronze Coin of Hiero II
Ancient Greek bronze of Syracuse struck under King Hieron II, c. 275-215 BC, bearing a Hellenistic profile head; a very common Sicilian city bronze.
Ancient
Ancient Greek Didrachm
An ancient Greek silver didrachm worth two drachms, here with a bearded male head and a horse-and-rider reverse in the tradition of Magna Graecia.
Ancient
Bronze Coin of Septimius Severus (Tyre)
Roman provincial bronze struck at Tyre (Phoenicia) under Septimius Severus, 193-211 AD, with the emperor's bust on the obverse and a temple or deity reverse.
Ancient
Medieval Silver Cut Farthing
A quarter of a medieval silver penny, physically cut along the reverse cross to make small change before round farthings became common.
British Isles
Artuqid Bronze Dirham
A 12th-century bronze coin of the Artuqid Turkmen dynasty, struck with Arabic inscriptions inside ornamental borders across eastern Anatolia.
Medieval Islamic
Warring States Knife Coin
A cast bronze knife coin (dao bi) of China's Warring States period, shaped like a small blade with a ringed handle and cast inscriptions.
Ancient
Congolese Commemorative Coin
An 1889 holed copper 10-centime coin of the Congo Free State, with a radiant five-pointed star, the value 10 C, and a ring of small stars.
World
Qi State Knife Coin
A cast bronze knife-shaped coin of the ancient state of Qi, with Chinese characters running down the curved blade and a ringed handle terminal.
Ancient
Chu State Ant-Nose Coin
A small cast bronze cowrie-shaped coin of the Chu state, bearing a face-like Chinese inscription in relief, nicknamed ant-nose or ghost-face money.
Ancient
Coin Weight for Louis d'Or
A small bronze monetary weight used to verify a gold Louis d'Or on a balance, showing a worn royal profile and a heraldic reverse.
Token/weight
Half Pahlavi Gold Coin
A small Iranian gold coin worth half a Pahlavi, showing Reza Shah in a military cap on one side and the Lion and Sun with a crown on the other.
Persia / Iran
Louis d'Or Coin Weight
A French bronze monetary weight (poids monétaire) made to check the weight of a gold Louis d'Or, not a coin itself but a money-changer's balance weight.
Coin Weight
Roman Siliqua
Small late-Roman silver coin of the 4th century AD, with an emperor's portrait facing right and a standing robed figure on the reverse.
Ancient
Roman As/Dupondius (Uncertain)
An uncertain Roman bronze As or Dupondius: a double-faced Janus head on one side and a ship (galley/prow) with ROMA below on the other.
Ancient
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)
Real (Medieval)
A medieval Spanish silver real carrying the heraldic arms of the Iberian kingdoms — a lion for León paired with a castle or cross design.
Medieval