Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Egyptian 10 Piastres
A modern Egyptian 10 piastres in cupro-nickel, its face carrying Arabic script framed by geometric ornament and diamond-shaped decorative patterns.
World
Egypt 20 Qirsh
The 20 qirsh was Egypt's largest silver coin under the Khedivate, bearing the Ottoman sultan's tughra; this example dates to 1905.
World
Egyptian 20 Piastres Commemorative
A cupro-nickel Egyptian 20 piastres commemorative dated 1980, with an ornate Arabic calligraphic obverse and a heraldic double-headed eagle reverse.
World
Egyptian 1 Pound
An Egyptian cupro-nickel 1 Pound commemorative marking World Food Day 1981, its reverse showing standing figures with wheat sheaves.
World
10 Cash (Republic)
A Republic of China bronze 10 Cash: a round machine-struck copper piece with a central ornament and characters on one face and a decorative inscribed reverse.
Cash Coin
Roman Republic Semuncia
Smallest Roman Republican bronze denomination, worth half an uncia, struck around 217-215 BC with a Mercury head and a galley prow.
Ancient
Republic 1 Fen
A holed copper 1 fen of Republican China, showing a numeral 1 with Chinese characters on one side and flowering plum blossoms on the other, around a central square-ish hole.
Circulation
Egyptian 10 Piastres Commemorative
A cupro-nickel Egyptian 10 piastres commemorative dated 1984, showing a domed mosque on one face and Arabic legends throughout.
World
5 Francs (First Republic)
A large silver 5-franc crown of the French First Republic, dated by the revolutionary calendar as L'an 9 (1800–1801), with a right-facing Liberty head.
Circulation
South African Republic Penny
An 1898 copper penny of the old South African Republic (Transvaal): President Paul Kruger's profile obverse, Transvaal coat of arms reverse.
Circulation
Republic India One Pice
A small bronze one-pice from 1950, the first year of the Republic of India, the lowest coin of the pre-decimal anna series struck in a copper alloy.
Modern India
Central American Republic 8 Reales
A silver 8 reales of the Central American Republic, showing a rayed sun rising over mountains on one side and a tree on the other, dated 1824.
Circulation
North Yemen 1 Rial
Silver 1 Rial of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), dated 1963, with a floral wreath obverse and an ornamental Arabic inscription on the reverse.
World
Roman Republican Denarius (Unidentified)
A silver Roman Republican denarius of about 115-114 BC: helmeted Roma on the obverse, Victory driving a two-horse chariot on the reverse.
Ancient
Silver Dirham of Salm ibn Ziyad
An Arab-Sasanian silver dirham struck for the Umayyad governor Salm ibn Ziyad, with a Sasanian-style bust and fire-altar reverse plus Arabic marginal inscriptions.
Islamic (Medieval)
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)
Dirham of Samura ibn Jundab
An Arab-Sassanian silver dirham struck in the name of the early governor Samura ibn Jundab, keeping the Persian Shah bust and fire-altar design with added Arabic.
Islamic (Medieval)
Triple Unite
The largest English hammered gold coin, struck for Charles I during the Civil War and valued at 60 shillings (three pounds).
Hammered
Unite of James I
A hammered gold pound coin of James I, named to celebrate the union of England and Scotland under one crown.
Hammered
Charles I Unite
A large hammered gold coin of Charles I worth twenty shillings, showing his crowned profile and a crowned quartered shield of lions and fleur-de-lis.
Hammered
1 Escudo
Portugal's first silver escudo, struck in 1910 to mark the founding of the Republic, with an allegorical female head and the crowned national shield.
Modern
French Silver Franc
A small Third Republic silver 1-franc coin with an allegorical Marianne head and a REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE reverse; the pictured piece is dated 1899.
World
Numapis Denarius
A silver denarius of the Roman Republic (1st century BC) pairing a male portrait facing right with a ship or galley and lettering on the reverse.
Ancient
2 Koruny
A circulating Czech Republic coin introduced in 1993, known by its eleven-sided shape, the Czech heraldic lion, and a Great Moravian jewel motif beside 2 Kč.
Modern