Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Pound Coin
The United Kingdom's £1 coin, introduced in 1983 to replace the paper pound note, redesigned as a 12-sided bimetallic coin in 2017.
British
Egyptian Pound (gold)
Egypt's principal gold coin, struck from the Khedivate through the Sultanate and early Kingdom era, carrying the ruler's portrait or tughra and Arabic legends.
Africa & Oceania
Two Pound Coin
The UK's bimetallic £2 coin, standardized for circulation in the late 1990s, widely used for a rotating series of commemorative reverse designs.
British
Una and the Lion Five Pound
A legendary 1839 gold proof depicting young Queen Victoria as Una leading a lion, widely considered one of the most beautiful coins ever struck and a benchmark of Victorian coin art.
British
Two Pound Gold (Double Sovereign)
A gold coin worth two pounds sterling and roughly twice the weight of a sovereign, struck mainly for jubilees, coronations, and modern proof or bullion sets rather than daily circulation.
British
Half Groat
A small hammered silver coin worth half the value of the groat, or two pence, struck across three centuries of English coinage from the reign of Edward III through the Stuart era.
British
Five Pound Gold (Quintuple Sovereign)
The largest standard gold coin in the British sovereign family, worth five pounds and equal to five sovereigns, struck intermittently since 1820 for commemorative and collector purposes.
British
Siamese Rama V Silver Baht
Western-style silver baht introduced under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Siam, replacing centuries-old bullet money with modern flat coinage.
Asian
1895 Morgan Dollar (King of Morgans)
A legendary Morgan Dollar key date struck only in proof format at Philadelphia, nicknamed the 'King of Morgans' for its extreme rarity within the series.
United States
1921 Fifty Cents (King of Canadian Coins)
Canada's most famous rarity, the 1921 fifty-cent piece survives in only a small number of known examples after most of its mintage was melted, earning it the nickname King of Canadian Coins.
Canadian
1949 King George VI Silver Dollar
A one-year Canadian silver dollar issued to mark Newfoundland's entry into Confederation, depicting John Cabot's ship the Matthew on the reverse.
Canadian
Coat of Arms Fifty Cents (Elizabeth II)
Canada's modern fifty-cent piece, showing the Canadian coat of arms on the reverse since 1959 under successive obverse portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and, later, King Charles III.
Canadian
Aureus of Augustus
The gold coin of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, who standardized the aureus at roughly 1/40 of a Roman pound and set the gold standard for the empire.
Ancient
Half Guinea
Smaller companion gold coin to the guinea, worth half its value, struck across the same reigns from Charles II through George III for mid-value transactions.
British
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
Italian 10 Lire (Silver)
Kingdom of Italy silver 10 Lire coin, best known for the 1926–1930 'Biga' type showing a two-horse chariot, struck under Vittorio Emanuele III.
European
Cartwheel Penny (1797)
A massive, one-ounce copper penny struck in 1797 by Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint, nicknamed the Cartwheel Penny for its thick raised rim resembling a cart's wheel and axle.
British
Cartwheel Twopence (1797)
An enormous two-ounce copper twopence struck in 1797, the largest coin ever produced for circulation in Britain, made famous for its heavy raised cartwheel-style rim.
British
1893-S Morgan Dollar
The undisputed key date of the Morgan dollar series, struck at San Francisco with the lowest mintage of any regular-issue Morgan, roughly 100,000 coins.
United States
1936 Dot Cent
One of Canada's rarest coins: a 1936-dated cent quietly struck in 1937 with a tiny raised dot below the date after King Edward VIII's abdication delayed new George VI dies.
Canadian
1877 Indian Head Cent
The premier key date of the Indian Head cent series, struck in unusually low numbers during a mid-1870s economic downturn.
United States
Italian 100 Lire Gold
The largest gold denomination of the Kingdom of Italy's Latin Monetary Union coinage, struck under Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I in relatively limited numbers.
European
1950-D Jefferson Nickel
The lowest-mintage business-strike Jefferson Nickel of the entire series, widely hoarded in rolls even as it was released, earning it the nickname the 'King of Jefferson Nickels.'
United States
1804 Draped Bust Dollar
One of the most famous rarities in American numismatics, a silver dollar dated 1804 but actually struck decades later, with only 15 known examples.
United States