Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Ottoman Kurus (Piastre)
The standard Ottoman monetary unit for centuries, struck in silver or base metal bearing the sultan's tughra, later becoming a subunit of the Ottoman lira after 1844.
World
Spanish 2 Reales Pillar
The Pillar 2 Reales was a fractional Spanish colonial silver coin featuring the famous Pillars of Hercules design, struck at mints across Spanish America and widely used in international trade.
Latin American
Ottoman Rashidi Kurus
A silver kurus variety struck to a distinct local standard within the Ottoman Arabian provinces, less standardized and less commonly catalogued than the empire's main Constantinople coinage.
World
Ottoman 20 Kurus
Ottoman silver coin denominated in kuruş, bearing the sultan's ornate calligraphic tughra rather than a portrait, in keeping with Islamic artistic tradition.
World
German Empire 20 Mark Gold (Wilhelm II)
The standard gold coin of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II, struck at multiple state mints and widely collected for its imperial portrait and eagle reverse.
European
Swiss 20 Franc Vreneli
Switzerland's classic gold franc coin, depicting a young Swiss woman nicknamed Vreneli on the obverse and the Swiss shield on the reverse, a favorite of gold savers for over a century.
European
Brazilian 2000 Reis Silver
The largest common silver coin of the Brazilian Empire, bearing the portrait of Emperor Pedro II across several design types spanning his long reign.
Latin American
Swiss 20 Francs Gold Vreneli
Switzerland's beloved gold 20-franc coin, nicknamed "Vreneli" after the young woman on its obverse, prized worldwide as an approachable and historically rich gold bullion and collector coin.
European
Ottoman Gold Sultani
The principal gold trade coin of the early Ottoman Empire, struck to match the weight and fineness of the Venetian ducat so it could compete in Mediterranean commerce.
World
Canadian 2010 Vancouver Olympics Coins
The Royal Canadian Mint produced an extensive multi-year coin program for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, including innovative colorized and lenticular circulating quarters alongside premium silver and gold collector coins.
Commemorative
Ottoman Para
A small fractional Ottoman coin, historically 1/40 of a kurus, struck for centuries in varying metals as the empire's lowest everyday denomination.
World
Brazilian 20000 Reis Gold
The highest-value gold coin of the Empire of Brazil, struck intermittently under Emperor Pedro II to support the country's monetary reserves and international trade.
Latin American
Italian 20 Lire Gold (Vittorio Emanuele)
The Kingdom of Italy's standard 20 lire gold coin, issued under kings including Vittorio Emanuele II, sharing the Latin Monetary Union's gold specifications with coins like the French Napoleon.
European
Austrian 20 Corona Gold
A compact gold coin of the Austro-Hungarian Empire depicting Emperor Franz Joseph I, widely available today as an accessible historic gold piece.
European
German Prussia 20 Mark Gold
The standard gold coin of Prussia within the newly unified German Empire, featuring successive Prussian kings and forming a key part of the empire's gold mark system.
European
Egyptian Qirsh (Muhammad Ali Era)
Silver-billon piastre struck in Egypt under Muhammad Ali Pasha in the name of the Ottoman Sultan, reflecting Egypt's growing autonomy within the empire.
Africa & Oceania
1972 Eisenhower Dollar (Type 2)
A scarce reverse variety of the 1972 Eisenhower dollar, distinguished by a more detailed, higher-relief rendering of the Earth behind the moon-landing eagle, and prized by variety collectors.
Errors & Varieties
1943/2-P Jefferson Nickel Overdate
A wartime Jefferson nickel overdate variety in which traces of an underlying 2 can be seen beneath the 3 in the date, created when a working die was re-hubbed with a different year's date.
Errors & Varieties
1823/2 Capped Bust Quarter Overdate
One of the rarest die varieties in the entire United States quarter series, the 1823/2 overdate shows a 3 punched over a leftover 2, from an extremely limited production run.
Errors & Varieties
2004-D Wisconsin Extra Leaf High Quarter
The 'high leaf' variant of the famous Wisconsin quarter extra-leaf variety, showing the anomalous extra corn leaf pointing upward and outward rather than low near the cheese wheel.
Errors & Varieties
2004 Wisconsin State Quarter Extra Leaf
A famous modern variety of the 2004 Wisconsin state quarter showing an unexplained extra leaf on the corn cob, found in both 'low leaf' and 'high leaf' forms.
Errors & Varieties
2005 Minnesota State Quarter Extra Tree (Doubled Die)
A doubled-die variety of the 2005 Minnesota state quarter that produces the illusion of an extra tree trunk among the treeline in the design, popular with modern variety collectors.
Errors & Varieties
Valerian Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Valerian, the only Roman emperor ever captured alive by a foreign enemy, taken prisoner by the Sassanid king Shapur I in 260 AD.
Ancient
Standing Liberty Quarter
An early 20th-century silver quarter featuring a striding figure of Liberty, prized for its artistic Type I 'bare breast' design and later modified Type II version.
United States