Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Irish Pistole
A rare hammered gold emergency coin of 1640s Ireland, marked with its weight in pennyweights and grains rather than a portrait, and rated as a pistole.
Hammered
Irish Gun Money Shilling
A base-metal Irish emergency shilling struck for James II in 1689-1690, with his laureate bust and a crowned reverse dated by month, here October 1689.
Emergency Coinage
Irish Groat of Henry VIII
A hand-hammered silver fourpence struck for Ireland under Henry VIII, famed for introducing the crowned harp to Irish coinage.
Hammered
Irish Gun Money Sixpence
A base-metal emergency sixpence struck for James II in Ireland during the Williamite War, its brass alloy cast from melted guns, bells, and scrap.
Emergency Coinage
Irish Halfpenny of Charles II
A milled copper halfpenny struck for Ireland under Charles II, with his right-facing laureate bust and a crowned Irish harp on the reverse.
Milled
Irish Gun Money Halfcrown (30 Pence)
Emergency base-metal halfcrown struck for James II in Ireland during 1689–1690, valued at 30 pence and carrying his portrait and, on many issues, the month of striking.
Emergency Coinage
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
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
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
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
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
France 20 Centimes
A small gold-colored French Fifth Republic coin showing Marianne in profile, worth one-fifth of a franc, struck for four decades before the euro.
Circulation
Kenya 1 Shilling
A circulating one-shilling coin of the Republic of Kenya bearing President Jomo Kenyatta on the obverse and the Kenyan coat of arms on the reverse.
World
French Cérès 5 Francs
A large silver French 5 francs showing the head of Cérès, goddess of the harvest, wearing a liberty cap, with the republican motto LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ FRATERNITÉ.
Circulation
India Four Anna
An early Republic of India quarter rupee (four annas) of 1950, showing the Ashoka Lion Capital emblem with radiating rays and the country name INDIA.
Modern India
1 Franc Ceres
A small silver French franc showing the head of Cérès, goddess of the harvest, wearing wheat and a star, with the LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE reverse dated 1871.
Circulation