Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish Peseta
The peseta was Spain's national currency for over 130 years, evolving from silver coinage under a provisional 19th-century government to copper-nickel coins used until the euro replaced it in 2002.
European
Spanish 5 Pesetas Silver (Duro)
Spain's classic large silver crown coin, popularly nicknamed the 'duro,' issued under several monarchs and a provisional republic in the late 19th century.
European
Spanish 20 Pesetas Gold (Alfonso XII)
Spain's standard gold coin of the Latin Monetary Union era, struck under King Alfonso XII following the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in the 1870s.
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
Argentine 1 Peso 'Liberty Head'
A short-lived Argentine silver peso from the early 1880s featuring a Liberty head design, struck only briefly before Argentina's monetary standards shifted.
Latin American
1942/1 Mercury Dime Overdate
A famous overdate error, this Philadelphia Mercury Dime shows remnants of a 1941 digit beneath the 1942 date, created when an old die hub was reused by mistake.
Errors & Varieties
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
Peru 1 Sol Silver 'Seated Liberty'
A classic Peruvian silver coin showing a seated female Liberty figure holding a shield and staff, struck intermittently over several decades at the Lima mint.
Latin American
1942/1-D Mercury Dime Overdate
The Denver counterpart to the famous 1942/1 overdate, this Mercury Dime shows a doubled date from reused 1941 die-making equipment and is scarcer than the Philadelphia version.
Errors & Varieties
Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (1 oz)
Canada's flagship gold bullion coin, struck in .9999 fine gold by the Royal Canadian Mint since 1979, among the purest gold coins ever issued.
Bullion
Type 1 Liberty Head Gold Dollar
The first United States gold dollar, a tiny coin introduced during the California Gold Rush and among the smallest coins ever struck by the U.S. Mint.
United States
Mexican Estados Unidos 1 Peso 'Morelos'
A mid-twentieth-century Mexican silver peso portraying independence hero José María Morelos, struck in fifty-percent silver for just a few years after World War II.
Latin American
1917 Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter
The original 1916-1917 Standing Liberty quarter design showing Liberty with an exposed right breast, before the design was modified later in 1917 for modesty.
United States
Japanese 1 Yen Silver 'Dragon' Trade Dollar
A Meiji-era Japanese silver yen featuring a coiled dragon, struck to standardize Japan's currency and, in a special trade dollar variant, to compete with Mexican and other silver dollars across East Asia.
Asian
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
Korean 1 Yang Silver (Joseon/Great Han Empire)
Silver 1 Yang coin from Korea's late Joseon currency reform of the 1890s, part of the kingdom's first modern, machine-struck decimal coinage.
Asian
French 100 Francs Silver
France's pre-euro 100 Franc denomination included both a long-running silver Panthéon coin for collectors and numerous limited commemorative silver issues honoring people, events, and anniversaries.
European
French 5 Francs "Napoleon"
A large silver crown-sized coin bearing the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, first as First Consul and later as Emperor, marking France's decimal franc system's early flagship silver denomination.
European
French Franc Germinal
Not a single coin but the bimetallic monetary standard fixed by Napoleon's 1803 law, defining the franc's silver and gold content for over a century.
European
French 10 Francs Gold (Napoleon Rooster)
A small French gold coin from the Third Republic featuring the Gallic rooster reverse, a smaller companion to the famous 20 francs 'Coq' gold piece.
European
French Napoleon 20 Francs Gold
France's standard 19th-century gold coin, first struck under Napoleon I and continued under later rulers and the Republic, giving rise to the enduring nickname "Napoleon" for any 20-franc gold coin.
European
French 5 Francs Hercules
A large silver crown depicting an allegorical Hercules flanked by Liberty and Equality, struck at pivotal republican moments in French history as a statement of civic ideals.
European
French 2 Francs (Silver)
A workhorse French silver denomination struck across the Napoleonic, Restoration, and Republican eras, later famous for the Semeuse (Sower) design.
European
French 20 Franc Rooster
A French Third Republic gold coin replacing royal and imperial portraits with republican symbolism: Marianne on the obverse and a standing Gallic rooster on the reverse.
European