Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Republican Quinarius
A half-denarius silver coin of the Roman Republic, often depicting the twin gods Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) riding on horseback.
Ancient
Roman Republic Denarius
The workhorse silver coin of the Roman Republic, introduced during the Second Punic War and struck by a long line of moneyers with ever-changing, often political, designs.
Ancient
South African Republic Burgers Pond
The first coin struck for an independent South African state, issued in 1874 under President Thomas Burgers of the Transvaal, famous for its 'coarse beard' and 'fine beard' portrait varieties.
Africa & Oceania
German 5 Deutsche Mark Commemoratives
West Germany issued special silver 5 Deutsche Mark coins from the 1950s through the mid-1980s to mark anniversaries, institutions, and notable Germans, alongside its regular circulating 5 DM coin.
Commemorative
Vermont Copper
Copper coinage struck under authority of the independent Vermont Republic in the 1780s, featuring an early landscape design and later a Britannia-style type.
United States
Mexican 8 Reales Cap and Rays
The classic silver dollar of independent Mexico, showing a radiant Phrygian liberty cap over mountains, widely trusted and traded across the Americas and Asia for most of the 19th century.
Latin American
Ides of March Denarius (EID MAR)
A denarius struck by Brutus in 42 BC commemorating Julius Caesar's assassination, showing daggers and a liberty cap — one of the most famous and valuable ancient coins ever made.
Ancient
Colombia 8 Reales
Silver 8 reales struck first under Spanish colonial rule in New Granada and later, after independence, in the name of the new Colombian republic.
Latin American
Sun Yat-sen 'Memento' 1 Dollar (1927)
Silver dollar bearing the portrait of Sun Yat-sen, struck to commemorate the founding of the Republic of China and widely circulated under the Nationalist government.
Asian
Mark Antony Legionary Denarius
A widely produced denarius struck by Mark Antony to pay his legions before the Battle of Actium, each type naming a specific Roman legion on the reverse.
Ancient
Sun Yat-sen Junk Dollar
A Republic of China silver dollar depicting Sun Yat-sen and a traditional sailing junk, with the scarcer 1934 variety showing three birds overhead that is highly sought by collectors.
Asian
Yuan Shih-kai Dollar ("Fat Man Dollar")
A widely circulated Republic of China silver dollar bearing the portrait of President Yuan Shikai, nicknamed the "Fat Man Dollar" for his rounded features and became China's standard silver coin for years.
Asian
Venetian Ducat
Gold coin first struck by the Republic of Venice in 1284, prized for its remarkably consistent weight and purity, which made it a dominant trade coin across medieval and Renaissance Europe.
European
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
Massachusetts Cent (1787-1788)
State-issued copper coinage struck by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1787 and 1788, notable as the first official U.S. coinage to use the denomination 'cent'.
United States
Venetian Gold Ducat
First struck in 1284, the Venetian gold ducat became medieval Europe's most trusted trade coin, prized for centuries for its unwavering weight and purity.
European
Florentine Florin
Introduced in 1252, the gold florin of Florence became medieval Europe's leading trade coin, its lily emblem and fixed gold standard copied by dozens of other mints.
European
Gold Panda (China)
China's flagship gold bullion coin, issued since 1982 with a different panda design nearly every year, making the series a favorite among both bullion buyers and date-and-design collectors.
Bullion
Chinese Silver Panda
China's annual silver bullion coin, issued since 1983 with a new panda design nearly every year, popular with both silver stackers and dedicated Panda date-set collectors.
Bullion
Dutch Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A silver trade coin of the Dutch Republic showing an armored knight and a rampant lion, exported in vast quantities to the Levant, Russia, and the American colonies.
European
Netherlands Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A large silver trade coin of the Dutch provinces showing a knight and a rampant lion, widely circulated in colonial North America and the Ottoman world as the prototype 'lion dollar.'
European
Peru 8 Reales (Lima Mint)
The flagship silver dollar-size coin of colonial and early republican Peru, struck at the historic Lima mint from cob and pillar types through crowned-shield busts.
Latin American
Colombian 8 Reales (Nueva Granada)
The classic Spanish colonial "piece of eight" struck at the mints of Bogotá and Popayán, continuing in modified form after Colombian independence before decimal reform.
Latin American
Austrian Levantine Thaler (Maria Theresa Thaler)
A famous silver trade coin bearing the portrait of Empress Maria Theresa, perpetually dated 1780 and restruck for centuries as a trusted trade currency across the Middle East, Arabia, and East Africa.
European