Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
2012 London Olympics 50p Series
The Royal Mint issued 29 different circulating 50 pence coins in 2011, each honoring a different sport of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, sparking a nationwide coin-collecting craze in Britain.
Commemorative
Pound Coin
The United Kingdom's £1 coin, introduced in 1983 to replace the paper pound note, redesigned as a 12-sided bimetallic coin in 2017.
British
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
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
2 Euro Coin
The highest-denomination circulating euro coin, with a silver-colored center inside a gold-colored ring, widely used by member states to issue popular commemorative designs collected across Europe.
European
Two Pound Coin
The UK's bimetallic £2 coin, standardized for circulation in the late 1990s, widely used for a rotating series of commemorative reverse designs.
British
Vatican Euro Coins
Official euro coinage of the world's smallest sovereign state, struck in very limited quantities and highly sought after by euro coin collectors worldwide.
European
Iranian Pahlavi Gold Coin
A gold coin series named for Iran's Pahlavi dynasty, issued from the 1920s until the 1979 revolution and still widely traded today as a recognized gold bullion and savings coin.
Bullion
Somalia Elephant Silver Coin
A popular annually-redesigned bullion coin issued in the name of Somalia depicting an African elephant, part of a broader African Wildlife series struck by a German mint.
Africa & Oceania
Guptas 'Horseman' Silver Coin
Silver coin of the Gupta Empire showing the king on horseback, struck after Gupta conquest of western India in imitation of earlier Western Kshatrapa silver coinage.
Ancient
Aksumite Gold Coin of Ezana
Gold coin of King Ezana of Aksum, historically important as among the earliest coins in the world to bear a Christian cross, marking Ezana's conversion.
Ancient
Japanese Bunkyu Eiho (cash coin)
A late Edo-period Japanese cash coin worth 4 mon, larger than the common Kan'ei Tsūhō, issued in the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate to help ease chronic small-coin shortages.
Asian
1967 Centennial Gold $20 Coin
A gold $20 coin struck to mark the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 1967, sold mainly to collectors as part of the country's centennial commemorative coinage.
Commemorative
Chinese Song Dynasty Cash Coin
A round bronze coin with a square center hole issued during China's Song Dynasty, among the most massively produced and commonly collected pre-modern Chinese coin types.
Asian
Chinese Spade Money (Bu Coin)
An early Chinese bronze currency shaped like a miniature farming spade, used across several competing Zhou-era states before round coinage became standardized.
Asian
Napoleon 20 Franc Gold Coin
A historic French gold coin first struck under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, later issued under successive French governments and long used as a benchmark gold coin across Europe.
European
South African Mandela R5 Coin
South African circulating commemorative five-rand coin honoring Nelson Mandela, first issued for his 90th birthday in 2008 and again for his birth centenary in 2018.
Commemorative
Isle of Man Angel Gold Coin
The Isle of Man Angel is a modern gold bullion coin series depicting the archangel Michael slaying a dragon, struck by the Pobjoy Mint under license from the Isle of Man government since the 1980s.
Bullion
2000 Sydney Olympics Coin Series
The Royal Australian Mint issued one of the largest circulating commemorative coin programs ever produced for a single Olympics, featuring numerous $5 designs alongside premium silver and gold proof coins for the Sydney 2000 Games.
Commemorative
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
Japanese Nishu-kin (gold coin)
Small rectangular gold coin from Tokugawa Japan valued at two shu, or one-eighth of a ryo, part of a fractional gold denomination system unique to Edo-period currency.
Asian
1976 Montreal Olympics Silver Coin Series
A landmark seven-series program of sterling silver $5 and $10 coins issued by Canada to help finance and celebrate the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics.
Commemorative
Tuvalu Marvel Silver Coins
Officially licensed Marvel superhero silver coins issued in the name of Tuvalu, produced by Australia's Perth Mint and featuring characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Avengers.
Commemorative
Euro €2 Commemorative Coins
Since 2004, Eurozone countries have issued special-design €2 coins commemorating anniversaries and events while keeping the coin's normal size, weight, and legal-tender status.
Commemorative