Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Chinese Silver Dragon Dollar (Kwangtung Province)
One of China's earliest machine-struck silver dollars, produced by Kwangtung province in the late Qing dynasty with an imperial dragon design, a pioneering issue other provinces soon imitated.
Asian
Kwangtung Province Dragon Dollar
One of the earliest Chinese machine-struck silver dollars, issued by Kwangtung Province and featuring a coiled dragon reverse that became the template for Chinese provincial dollar coinage.
Asian
Chinese Cash Coin (Qing Dynasty 'Kangxi Tongbao')
Classic cast bronze cash coin bearing the reign title of Emperor Kangxi, struck across many provincial mints during one of the longest reigns in Chinese history.
Asian
Chinese Qing Dynasty Cash (Qian Long Tong Bao)
A brass cash coin issued during the long, prosperous reign of the Qianlong Emperor, one of the most commonly encountered Qing Dynasty coins in collections today.
Asian
Chinese Fengtien Province Dragon Dollar
Silver dragon dollar struck by the provincial mint of Fengtien in Manchuria during the late Qing dynasty, notable for several rare dated varieties.
Asian
Chinese Hupeh Province Dragon Dollar
Silver dragon dollar struck by the Hupeh (Hubei) provincial mint in late Qing China, part of the wave of regional dragon-dollar coinage issued across the empire's provinces.
Asian
Chinese Kirin Province Dragon Dollar
A late Qing dynasty silver dollar from China's northeastern Kirin province, widely admired by collectors for the unusually artistic and finely detailed dragon design on several of its issues.
Asian
Chinese Yunnan Province Dragon Dollar
A silver dragon dollar struck by China's remote southwestern Yunnan province, notable for its distinctive coiled dragon design and unusually long production continuing well into the Republic era.
Asian
Chinese Tang Dynasty Cash
The influential bronze cash coin introduced in the Tang Dynasty, inscribed "Kai Yuan Tong Bao," that established the round-with-square-hole design copied for over a thousand years.
Asian
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 Ming Dynasty Cash (Hong Wu Tong Bao)
The founding cash coin of the Ming Dynasty, issued under the Hongwu Emperor, marking the restoration of native Han Chinese rule after the collapse of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.
Asian
Chinese Dragon Dollar
A coiled dragon dominates the reverse of these late Qing Dynasty silver dollars, struck by numerous Chinese provincial mints as China modernized its coinage using Western minting technology.
Asian
Chinese Szechuan Rupee (Tibet-related)
Silver rupee struck by China's Szechuan provincial mint to compete with British Indian rupees circulating in Tibet, blending a Chinese ruler's portrait with an Indian-style coin format.
Asian
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
Chinese Wu Zhu Cash
One of history's longest-running coin types, cast continuously for over seven centuries across multiple Chinese dynasties after its introduction under Emperor Wu of Han.
Ancient
Chinese Empire Silver Dollar (Hsuan Tung Dragon)
A late Qing dynasty silver dollar issued during the brief Hsuan Tung (Xuantong) reign of the last emperor, featuring an imperial dragon design.
Asian
Chinese Auto Dollar (Kweichow, 1928)
Famous Chinese provincial silver dollar depicting an automobile, struck in Kweichow province in 1928 and celebrated by collectors as one of the most distinctive Chinese coin designs.
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
Chinese Knife Money (Ming Dao)
An ancient Chinese bronze currency cast in the shape of a knife, bearing a character often read as "Ming" on its blade, used mainly by the northern state of Yan before round coinage prevailed.
Asian
Chinese Pei Yang (Peiyang) Arsenal Dragon Dollar
Late Qing dynasty silver dollar struck at the Pei Yang Arsenal in Tientsin, prized by collectors for its dragon design and the rarity of certain dated varieties.
Asian
Kai Yuan Tong Bao Cash
A landmark Tang dynasty cash coin whose four-character reign-title inscription became the standard template for Chinese, and much of East Asian, coinage for the next 1,300 years.
Ancient