U.S. COIN REFERENCE
Explore U.S. coins by denomination and series
Start with the design family, then investigate the coin in your hand: its exact date, mint, strike, surfaces, possible variety, and comparable sales.
Find a coin series
Search the series index, or browse the denomination and historical-category links below.
Reference coverage
This index contains 121 series and historical categories across 19 groups. 121 series have reviewed inspection guides and 117 selected date/mint/strike records have sourced facts: 5 have reviewed specifications and 112 have reported production counts. The complete issue matrix, rarity data, and variety diagnostics remain under review. An indexed name is an orientation aid, not a complete issue record. Reference revision 2026-10-05.4.
Production and sales context
Search the U.S. Mint production and sales reports. Reported counts and partial monthly sums are distinct from final issue mintage and rarity.
Choose a denomination or historical category
- Half cents
- Large cents
- Small cents
- Two-cent pieces
- Three-cent pieces
- Half dimes
- Nickels
- Dimes
- Twenty-cent pieces
- Quarters
- Half dollars
- Dollars
- Historic gold
- Commemorative coins
- Bullion and modern precious-metal coins
- Colonial and pre-federal coins
- Territorial and private issues
- Patterns and experimental coins
- U.S.-administered territories
Read a reviewed series guide
- Liberty Cap half cents: turn the portrait before choosing the type
- Draped Bust half cents: dates, stems, and the Spiked Chin
- Classic Head half cents: stars, gaps, and restrikes
- Braided Hair half cents: a date set with proof-only years
- The first large cents: Chain, Wreath, and Liberty Cap
- Draped Bust large cents: the reverse can solve the date
- Classic Head large cents: a short series with difficult surfaces
- Coronet large cents: a date album and a Newcomb set
- Braided Hair large cents: a date set and a die-variety set
- Flying Eagle cents: the small cent’s short beginning
- Indian Head cents: reverse, alloy, and the valuable date
- Lincoln Wheat cents: ordinary dates and extraordinary claims
- Later Lincoln cents: reverse designs and the 1982 boundary
- The 2026 collectible cent: the dual date and the shield
- Two-cent pieces: motto size and proof-only endings
- Silver three-cent pieces: count the outlines of the star
- Nickel three-cent pieces: the numeral III and proof-only dates
- The 1792 half disme: evidence before the founding legend
- Flowing Hair half dimes: a five-cent coin without a value inscription
- Draped Bust half dimes: eagle type, stars, and the missing years
- Capped Bust half dimes: the small coin marked 5C
- Seated half dimes: stars, arrows, and the moving legend
- Shield nickels: rays, cracks, and strike quality
- Liberty Head nickels: find CENTS before naming the type
- Buffalo nickels: the mound, the date, and the missing detail
- Jefferson nickels: wartime mintmarks and the steps of Monticello
- The 2026 nickel: Jefferson with the anniversary date
- Draped Bust dimes: two eagles and no written denomination
- Capped Bust dimes: dentils, diameter, and 10C
- Seated dimes: arrows identify two different weight changes
- Barber dimes: the wreath separates them from the larger silver
- Mercury dimes: Liberty’s wings and the bands on the reverse
- Roosevelt dimes: silver, clad, and the proof context
- Emerging Liberty: the 2026 dime’s one-year design
- Twenty-cent pieces: read TWENTY CENTS and the plain edge
- Draped Bust quarters: the single-year eagle and the return in 1804
- Capped Bust quarters: a smaller coin after the 1830 gap
- Liberty Seated quarters: arrows, drapery, and the exact issue
- Barber quarters: three San Francisco keys and the actual mintmark
- Standing Liberty quarters: stars, recessed dates, and Full Head
- Classic Washington quarters: silver, clad, and the drummer
- State quarters: the design name is part of the issue
- The 2009 quarters: six designs after the fifty states
- America the Beautiful quarters: identify the site, size, and mint
- The 2021 Crossing the Delaware quarter: identify the reverse first
- American Women quarters: build the set by design, mint, and finish
- The five 2026 quarters: identify both designs
- Flowing Hair halves: the edge carries the denomination
- Draped Bust halves: two eagles across a production gap
- Capped Bust halves: lettered and reeded edges
- Liberty Seated half dollars: subtype first, wear and strike next
- Barber halves: a long-serving coin and its remaining surfaces
- Walking Liberty halves: look for the mintmark on the correct face
- Franklin halves: the bell’s lines and the coin’s surfaces
- Kennedy halves: several alloys behind one portrait
- Enduring Liberty: the 2026 half dollar and the passed torch
- Flowing Hair dollars: establish the large denomination
- Draped Bust dollars: an 1804 date needs its own history
- Gobrecht and Seated dollars: flying and perched eagles
- Trade dollars: the inscription and the chopmarks
- Morgan dollars: identify the issue before judging rarity
- Peace dollars: relief, mintmarks, and the condition question
- Eisenhower dollars: the moon, silver, and reverse lettering
- Susan B. Anthony dollars: an interrupted small-dollar series
- Sacagawea and Native American dollars: reverse and edge together
- Presidential dollars: the edge is part of the attribution
- American Innovation dollars: a program, a design, and a finish
- Modern Morgan and Peace dollars: familiar designs in a new program
- Gold dollars: three portraits and the tiny Type I
- Early quarter eagles: the 1796 stars and the recorded mintage
- Capped Bust quarter eagles: the single-year 1808 and the restart
- Classic Head quarter eagles: the removed motto identifies new gold
- Liberty Head quarter eagles: a familiar portrait on $2.50
- Indian quarter eagles: incuse designs and a raised D
- Three-dollar gold: a small denomination with proof-only exceptions
- Early half eagles: a small or heraldic eagle on five dollars
- Capped Bust half eagles: melting changed the surviving set
- Classic Head half eagles: the gold change of 1834
- Liberty Head half eagles: motto, diameter, and seven mints
- Indian half eagles: incuse gold and the survival of 1929
- Early eagles: ten dollars and two reverse designs
- Liberty Head eagles: the 1838 return and the reverse motto
- Indian ten-dollar eagles: raised designs and interrupted years
- Liberty double eagles: three reverse types on twenty dollars
- Saint-Gaudens double eagles: relief, date style, and later survival
- Classic silver commemoratives: a theme is not a complete issue
- Classic gold commemoratives: dollars, quarter eagles, and fifty dollars
- Modern silver and clad commemoratives: program, value, and finish
- Modern gold commemoratives: identify the program before the metal
- The 2016 gold centennial trio: old denominations, new metal
- Best of the Mint: a gold coin and a companion medal
- Comic Art gold coins: separate the coin from the medal
- Silver Eagles: reverse type, finish, and one troy ounce
- Five-ounce America the Beautiful coins: a quarter value on a large coin
- Gold Eagles: fine-gold weight and total alloy weight
- Platinum Eagles: size, proof design, and ambiguous counts
- Gold Buffalos: purity, size, and the revived nickel design
- First Spouse gold: the portrait or Liberty design identifies the issue
- The 2009 Ultra High Relief: a thick modern twenty-dollar coin
- Palladium Eagles: Winged Liberty on a different denomination
- American Liberty gold: changing symbols and companion medals
- Liberty and Britannia: two national symbols and two products
- Fugio cents: the sundial, linked rings, and later copies
- Massachusetts silver: a dated coin is not a dated production record
- State and regional coppers: authority before attribution
- French colonial pieces: read the crown and the counterstamp
- Proposals and Washington pieces: a portrait does not establish legal coinage
- Regulated gold: the foreign coin and the regulating mark
- Colonial restrikes and fantasies: establish when the object was made
- Templeton Reid gold: private manufacture and the dated claim
- Bechtler gold: grains and carats are part of the identity
- California private gold: issuer, shape, and fraction
- Oregon gold: the beaver and the private issuer
- Mormon gold: private Utah issues and changing designs
- Colorado private issues: gold coinage and Lesher silver
- Hawaiian coins: kingdom issues before U.S. statehood
- Alaska and Confederate pieces: tokens, originals, and restrikes
- Four-dollar Stellas: pattern identity before rarity
- Patterns and experiments: the design is only one field
- U.S.-Philippine coins: centavos, pesos, and mint identity
- Puerto Rican currency context: issuing authority before geography
Inspect and compare the actual coin
Photograph both faces and the edge. Read the date and mintmark, establish the design and strike, then assess wear, surfaces, damage, and any diagnostic feature. Keep uncertain observations visible. A reference’s variety list supplies candidates to check; it does not identify an error on your coin.
- Use the mint-error inspection order
- Separate mintage from rarity and survival
- Check a rare-coin claim
- Understand raw coins and certified grades
Compare recent sales for the same issue, condition, surface status, and quantity. Record sold versus asking prices, sale date, currency, and shipping. If the available evidence is broader than the coin you are valuing, label that limitation.
References and review
Reference reviewed October 5, 2026. Historical facts and catalog standards need to match the exact issue; price comparisons should be researched at the time of valuation.