Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Brazilian 20000 Reis Gold
The highest-value gold coin of the Empire of Brazil, struck intermittently under Emperor Pedro II to support the country's monetary reserves and international trade.
Latin American
Brazil 960 Reis
Brazilian silver coin created by overstriking Spanish colonial 8 reales with new Portuguese royal dies, issued after the Portuguese royal court relocated to Brazil.
Latin American
Brazilian 2000 Reis Silver
The largest common silver coin of the Brazilian Empire, bearing the portrait of Emperor Pedro II across several design types spanning his long reign.
Latin American
Brazilian 960 Reis Silver
A silver crown-sized coin struck in Brazil under Prince Regent João and later Pedro I, famous for often being overstruck directly on circulating Spanish colonial 8-reales pieces.
Latin American
Brazilian 6400 Reis Gold (Peça)
A substantial colonial Brazilian gold coin nicknamed the "peça" (piece), widely known abroad as the "Johannes" or "Joe," and once common in trade across the Atlantic world.
Latin American
Braided Hair Half Cent
The final United States half cent design, struck from 1840 to 1857, featuring Liberty with braided hair, before the denomination was discontinued.
United States
Braided Hair Large Cent
The final large cent design, showing Liberty with braided hair, produced until the bulky copper cent was replaced by the small Flying Eagle cent in 1857.
United States
Chinese Ban Liang Cash
China's first standardized round coin with a square center hole, introduced under Qin Shi Huang to unify currency across the newly consolidated Chinese empire.
Ancient
Guatemala 8 Reales
A silver piece of eight struck at the Guatemala City mint, first under Spanish colonial rule and later continued through the Central American Federation and independent Guatemala.
Latin American
Armenian Silver Noah's Ark
A biblically themed silver bullion coin issued by the Central Bank of Armenia, referencing Mount Ararat's traditional association with Noah's Ark.
World
Portuguese Real
Portugal's centuries-old pre-decimal currency unit, used from the medieval era until the 1911 introduction of the escudo, also struck for Brazil and other colonies.
European
Celtic Gold Stater
Iron Age gold coins struck by Celtic tribes across Gaul and Britain, evolving from close imitations of Macedonian staters into strikingly abstract, stylized designs.
Ancient
Bactrian Silver Tetradrachm
Large silver coin of the Greco-Bactrian kings of Central Asia, celebrated for producing some of the finest realistic royal portraiture in all of ancient coinage.
Ancient
Islamic Silver Dirham (Abbasid)
The standard silver coin of the Abbasid Caliphate, continuing the text-only Kufic script tradition and widely used across a vast medieval trade network stretching from Europe to Central Asia.
Ancient
Coronet Large Cent
A large copper cent series featuring Liberty wearing a coronet, produced through the "Matron Head" and "Young Head" phases before the Braided Hair design took over.
United States
Higley Copper
A privately minted colonial Connecticut copper token, famous for its blunt 'VALUE ME AS YOU PLEASE' inscription after colonists balked at its initial overvalued threepence rating.
United States
Japanese Meiji Gold 20 Yen
The largest and highest-denomination gold coin of Meiji-era Japan, featuring an imperial dragon design, struck to underpin Japan's modern gold-backed currency system.
Asian
Sybaris Bull Stater
An archaic incuse-fabric silver stater from the legendarily wealthy city of Sybaris, showing a bull looking back over its shoulder, struck before the city's destruction in 510 BC.
Ancient