United States
Every federal issue from 1793 on, including bullion, commemoratives and proof sets.
Lincoln centsWheat penniesBuffalo nickelsMercury dimesMorgan dollarsPeace dollarsSilver quartersGold eagles
Coin identifier. Photo in, answer out. In about three seconds.
Photograph both sides of any coin and get its country, year, denomination, mint mark, metal, estimated grade and current value range.
- US, world and ancient coins — 1793 to today, plus errors and varieties
- Mint marks read from the photo — P, D, S, O, CC, W and world mints
- A value range with the grade it assumes, from recent auction results
- Free to try — three coins a day, no account needed
4.8 from 2,841 collectors · 1.6M coins identified
front
Front of the coin
The obverse — usually the portrait side
back
Back of the coin
The reverse — optional, but much more accurate
Drag photos onto either panel, or paste with Ctrl V
What the coin identifier tells you
Not just a name. Everything you need to catalogue the coin, price it, or decide whether it is worth grading.
Identity
Country, denomination, year, series and design type, plus the catalogue reference (KM#) so you can look the coin up anywhere.
Mint mark and variety
Where the mint mark sits, which mint it stands for, and whether your coin matches a known variety such as a doubled die or an overdate.
Metal and specs
Composition, weight, diameter and edge type, so you can check the coin in your hand against what the real one should measure.
Estimated grade
A Sheldon-scale estimate read from the wear on the high points, with the specific details that pushed it up or down.
Value range
What coins like yours have actually sold for recently, shown as a range across grades rather than one flattering number.
Authenticity flags
A warning when the design, lettering or proportions look wrong for that date — the usual signs of a replica or modern copy.
How to identify a coin from a photo
Three steps, about a minute including the photos.
Shoot the front
Put the coin on a plain surface in daylight, hold the camera parallel to it, and let the coin fill the frame. No flash — it blows out the details that matter.
Shoot the back
Flip the coin and repeat. The reverse carries the denomination and often the mint mark, so adding it lifts accuracy sharply on worn coins.
Read the result
You get the identification, grade estimate and value range, plus the look-alike coins that were ruled out and the reason each was rejected.
A result, in full
This is what comes back from two photos of a silver dollar.
Obverse
Reverse
1921 Morgan Silver Dollar
United States · $1 · Philadelphia (no mint mark) · KM#110
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 26.73 g
- Diameter
- 38.1 mm
- Edge
- Reeded
- Estimated grade
- VF-30
- Value range
- $38 – $46
1921 Morgan99%
1921-D Morgan11%
1922 Peace dollar3%
Matched on the eagle's wing feathers and the flat relief unique to 1921. No mint mark below the wreath rules out Denver and San Francisco.
Four things that make a photo work
Most failed identifications come down to lighting, not the coin.
Daylight, no flashIndirect window light. Flash flattens the relief that grading depends on.
Fill the frameGet close enough that the coin touches the edges. Crop out the table.
Shoot straight downKeep the camera parallel. An angled shot distorts the legend and the date.
Never clean it firstCleaning can erase most of a coin's value. Photograph it exactly as found.
Coins the identifier covers
Over 1.1 million catalogued types, from pocket change to hoard finds.
World
Circulating and commemorative coins from more than 190 countries, current and obsolete.
EuroBritish pre-decimalCanadianJapaneseChineseIndianColonialSilver crowns
Ancient
Greek, Roman, Byzantine and medieval issues, read from the legend and portrait where they survive.
Roman denariusSestertiusGreek drachmTetradrachmByzantine follisHammered
Errors & varieties
The mistakes that make a common coin valuable, checked against known variety listings.
Doubled diesOff-centre strikesClipped planchetsRepunched mint marksOverdatesWrong planchet
Tokens & medals
Trade tokens, transit tokens, military medals and exonumia that catalogues often skip.
Civil War tokensTransit tokensCasino chipsMilitary medalsTrade dollars
Bullion
Silver and gold rounds and bars, with the day's melt value alongside the numismatic estimate.
Silver EaglesKrugerrandsMaple LeafsBritanniasPandasGeneric rounds
What the grade estimate means
Condition, not rarity, decides most of what a common coin is worth. Grades run on the Sheldon scale from 1 to 70.
| Grade | Name | What you see | Effect on value |
|---|---|---|---|
| G-4 | Good | Design flat, rims worn into the lettering, date still readable | Melt value or close to it |
| VG-8 | Very Good | Major features outlined, most fine detail gone | Small premium |
| F-12 | Fine | Moderate even wear, main lettering sharp | Modest premium |
| VF-30 | Very Fine | Light wear on the high points, hair and feathers visible | Clear premium |
| XF-45 | Extremely Fine | Slight wear, traces of original lustre in the fields | Strong premium |
| AU-55 | About Uncirculated | Friction on the highest points only, most lustre intact | Large premium |
| MS-63 | Mint State | No wear, some contact marks from bags | Multiples of circulated prices |
| MS-65+ | Gem Mint State | No wear, clean fields, strong strike and lustre | Where the serious money sits |
Coins people look up most
Start from a known type, or upload your own photos above.
1909-S VDB Lincoln centThe key date of the whole series1943 steel pennyWartime zinc-coated steel cent1921 Morgan dollarThe most common silver dollarBuffalo nickelDateless ones can still be identifiedWheat penny1909–1958, and which dates matterSilver quarterTelling 1964 and earlier apartRoman denariusReading a worn imperial legendBritish pre-decimalFarthings to half crownsError coinsDoubled dies and off-centre strikes
How to identify a coin yourself
Even with a tool doing the matching, it helps to know what it is reading. Four features carry nearly all the information on a coin, and once you can find them you can usually narrow any coin down to a handful of candidates on your own.
- The legend — the lettering around the rim gives the issuing country or ruler, often in Latin or in a script that dates the piece by itself.
- The date — normally on the obverse under the portrait, but on many world coins it sits on the reverse, and on Islamic and East Asian coins it may follow a different calendar entirely.
- The mint mark — a single letter marking where the coin was struck. On US coins it is small and easy to miss: under the date on cents, below the wreath on Morgan dollars, on the reverse of most older issues.
- The denomination — usually spelled out on the reverse. When it is missing, diameter and weight settle it, which is why the specs in every result are worth checking against a scale.
Why the same coin can be worth $2 or $2,000
Two coins of the same date and mint can differ in price by three orders of magnitude, and the difference is almost always condition. A worn 1921 Morgan dollar is a silver coin worth a little over melt. The same date in gem mint state is a collector's coin. That is why every result gives a grade estimate alongside the value, and why the value is quoted as a range across grades rather than a single figure.
Two habits protect the value you already have. Never clean a coin — the fine scratches left by any cleaning are visible under magnification and permanently reduce what it will fetch. And handle coins by the edge, since fingerprints etch into the surface over time.
When to get a coin professionally graded
Certification by PCGS or NGC costs money and takes weeks, so it is worth it only when the coin justifies it. As a rough rule: if the estimate here puts the coin above roughly $200, or if it is a key date where authenticity is commonly questioned, certification usually pays for itself in what a buyer will offer. Below that, a clear photo record and a careful description are enough.
What this tool is not
It is a fast first opinion, not an appraisal and not a certification. It reads what your photos show, which means a coin shot in poor light or at an angle will be graded conservatively or matched to the wrong variety. For insurance, an estate valuation, or a sale of any size, treat the identification here as a starting point and confirm it with a dealer or a grading service.
Identifying something else? Try the plant identifier, the stamp identifier, or the antique identifier.
What collectors say
I inherited a coffee tin of loose change from my grandfather. Two evenings and the whole tray was catalogued, graded and priced. It flagged a 1909-S I would have spent.
Daniel R.Coin collector, Ohio
Forty years of holiday change in a drawer, half of it in scripts I can't read. It named the country and denomination on nearly all of them, including a few Ottoman pieces.
Anne-Sophie B.Inherited a collection
I detect three weekends a month. Photographing a hammered coin in the field and getting a candidate before I've washed the dirt off has changed how I dig.
Tom H.Metal detectorist, Norfolk
Coin identifier Q & A
How do I identify a coin from a picture?
Photograph both faces in even daylight and upload them at the top of this page. The identifier reads the legend, portrait, date, mint mark and edge, then matches them against reference catalogues to return the country, year, denomination, metal, estimated grade and current value range.
Can it tell me what my coin is worth?
Yes, as a range drawn from recent auction results and dealer listings for that date, mint mark and grade. Because condition drives most of a coin's value, treat it as a guide and have anything valuable graded before you sell.
Does it read mint marks?
It does, whenever the mark is visible and legible in your photo — P, D, S, O, CC and W on US coins, plus world mint marks. The result shows where on the coin the mark was found so you can check it yourself.
What if my coin has no date, or the date is worn off?
Dateless coins are still identifiable by design type, and you will get a date range instead of a single year. Buffalo nickels and heavily worn hammered coins are the common cases, and both work.
Can it grade my coin?
It gives a Sheldon-scale estimate from the wear visible in your photos. That is useful for sorting and insuring, but it is not a substitute for certification by PCGS or NGC when a coin is worth real money.
Will it spot a fake?
It flags the obvious signs: wrong lettering, wrong proportions, designs that do not match the stated date. It cannot weigh your coin or test the metal, so a good counterfeit can pass. Weigh anything valuable and compare it against the specs in the result.
Is the coin identifier free?
Three coins a day, free, with no account. A free account raises that to twenty and saves your coins to a collection. Paid plans add unlimited identifications, batch upload and CSV export — see pricing.
What happens to my photos?
They are processed for your identification and stored only in your own collection. You can delete any photo at any time, and nothing you upload trains our models unless you opt in.
Got a coin in front of you?
Two photos and about three seconds. The first three each day are free, and you don't need an account.
Identify my coin