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UK Coin Identifier

Found a coin and not sure what it is? Answer four short questions, measure a worn coin, or type what you know, and we'll match it to our catalogue of 7,000+ United Kingdom coins, with realised auction values on every match.

Issued by: United Kingdom UK plus Crown Dependencies and territories Ireland
  1. Step 1Portrait
  2. Step 2Denomination
  3. Step 3Year
  4. Step 4Finish
  5. Step 5Match
← Back to step 2
Identifying: Hammered and earlier 1 Groat · Start over

Step 3, What year was it minted?

The year sits beneath the portrait on the obverse. If the date is worn, pick the closest decade, or switch to the measure path and identify it from diameter and weight instead.

1279 1280 1281 1282 1283 1284 1285 1286 1287 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 1296 1297 1298 1299 1300 1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1351 2 variants 1352 2 variants 1353 2 variants 1354 2 variants 1355 2 variants 1356 4 variants 1357 15 variants 1358 15 variants 1359 15 variants 1360 15 variants 1361 16 variants 1362 13 variants 1363 13 variants 1364 13 variants 1365 13 variants 1366 13 variants 1367 15 variants 1368 3 variants 1369 3 variants 1370 2 variants 1371 8 variants 1372 6 variants 1373 6 variants 1374 6 variants 1375 6 variants 1376 6 variants 1377 7 variants 1378 7 variants 1379 7 variants 1380 7 variants 1381 7 variants 1382 7 variants 1383 7 variants 1384 7 variants 1385 7 variants 1386 7 variants 1387 7 variants 1388 7 variants 1389 7 variants 1390 14 variants 1391 8 variants 1392 8 variants 1393 8 variants 1394 8 variants 1395 8 variants 1396 8 variants 1397 8 variants 1398 8 variants 1399 8 variants 1400 7 variants 1401 7 variants 1402 7 variants 1403 8 variants 1404 1405 1406 6 variants 1407 5 variants 1408 5 variants 1409 5 variants 1410 5 variants 1411 5 variants 1412 6 variants 1413 7 variants 1414 6 variants 1415 6 variants 1416 6 variants 1417 6 variants 1418 6 variants 1419 6 variants 1420 6 variants 1421 6 variants 1422 8 variants 1423 7 variants 1424 7 variants 1425 7 variants 1426 7 variants 1427 8 variants 1428 8 variants 1429 8 variants 1430 10 variants 1431 10 variants 1432 8 variants 1433 8 variants 1434 6 variants 1435 5 variants 1436 6 variants 1437 9 variants 1438 4 variants 1439 3 variants 1440 3 variants 1441 3 variants 1442 3 variants 1443 3 variants 1444 3 variants 1445 3 variants 1446 3 variants 1447 3 variants 1448 3 variants 1449 3 variants 1450 3 variants 1451 7 variants 1452 4 variants 1453 5 variants 1454 5 variants 1455 4 variants 1456 4 variants 1457 4 variants 1458 4 variants 1459 4 variants 1460 4 variants 1461 1462 1463 1464 2 variants 1465 2 variants 1466 2 variants 1467 6 variants 1468 2 variants 1469 2 variants 1470 3 variants 1471 4 variants 1472 2 variants 1473 2 variants 1474 2 variants 1475 6 variants 1476 2 variants 1477 2 variants 1478 1479 1480 2 variants 1481 2 variants 1482 3 variants 1483 5 variants 1484 8 variants 1485 8 variants 1486 6 variants 1487 6 variants 1488 5 variants 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 2 variants 1494 2 variants 1495 3 variants 1496 6 variants 1497 5 variants 1498 5 variants 1499 5 variants 1500 5 variants 1501 5 variants 1502 7 variants 1503 7 variants 1504 8 variants 1505 8 variants 1506 5 variants 1507 5 variants 1508 5 variants 1509 6 variants 1510 4 variants 1511 4 variants 1512 5 variants 1513 4 variants 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 9 variants 1527 8 variants 1528 8 variants 1529 8 variants 1530 8 variants 1531 7 variants 1532 7 variants 1533 7 variants 1534 7 variants 1535 7 variants 1536 7 variants 1537 7 variants 1538 7 variants 1539 7 variants 1540 3 variants 1541 3 variants 1542 3 variants 1543 3 variants 1544 4 variants 1545 1546 2 variants 1547 7 variants 1548 5 variants 1549 4 variants 1550 3 variants 1551 3 variants 1553 1554 2 variants 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 2 variants 1561 2 variants 1562 1563 1564 1565 1566 1567 1568 1569 1570 1571 1638 2 variants 1639 2 variants 1640 2 variants 1641 2 variants 1642 2 variants 1660 1661 1662 2 variants

How the identifier works

The question path narrows the catalogue one attribute at a time: portrait (which fixes the monarch and reign), denomination, year, and finish. The measure path ranks every catalogued coin by how close its official diameter and weight sit to your measurements, with shape and colour to separate look-alikes, which works even when the coin is worn smooth. The text path reads a year, a denomination, a design or a nickname the way site search does. Every path shows circulation strikes first and folds the proofs and finishes of the same coin underneath, each linking to a full coin page with realised auction prices, mintage figures, rarity scores and reference images. Every result is a real coin in the catalogue.

Frequently asked

How accurate is this coin identifier?
It is a structured search of our 7,000+ catalogued British coins. Answer the portrait, denomination and year correctly and the tool narrows to the exact coin or a small handful of variants, with circulation strikes shown first and proofs folded underneath. For ambiguous coins (mules, errors, patterns) the result page links to the relevant guides.
What if I don't know the year?
The year is normally beneath the portrait on the obverse. If it has worn away, use "Measure it": diameter, weight, shape and colour usually narrow a dateless coin to a few candidates, and each card shows the years that coin was struck.
How do I identify a coin that is too worn to read?
Switch to the "Measure it" tab. Measure the diameter in millimetres with a ruler or calipers, weigh it in grams if you have scales, and note the shape and colour. The identifier ranks every catalogued coin by physical closeness, and a coin with no recorded diameter can still match on its weight.
How accurately do I need to measure?
The diameter search allows about a millimetre either way (less on small coins, more on crowns) and weight allows 12%, so a household ruler and kitchen scales are fine. Calipers and 0.01 g scales narrow the results further. Weigh the coin clean and dry; heavy wear can remove a few percent of the original weight.
What if it is not a British coin?
The identifier covers the United Kingdom by default, including pre-1707 England and Scotland. Switch the issuer control to add Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and the sterling territories, or to Ireland. For other countries, Numista is the place to start.
Can I identify a coin from a photo?
Not here. Apps such as CoinSnap and Coinoscope identify coins from a photo; come back with the name and the value is on the coin page. Google image search is unreliable for coins: a worn penny often comes back as a token, a medal or a foreign coin.
Does this work for Roman or ancient coins?
No. This identifier is scoped to British coinage from the hammered era to the present, plus the Crown Dependencies, the territories and Ireland. For Roman, Anglo-Saxon or other ancient coinage, the British Museum and the Portable Antiquities Scheme are the right starting points.
Is this a free service?
Yes, completely free with no account required. If you want to track the coins you find, free MyCoinage accounts let you save up to 25 coins to a personal collection.
What if my coin is fake?
Several common UK coins are widely counterfeited, most notably the Kew Gardens 50p and the £1 coin pre-2017. Once you have a match, our individual coin pages flag the common counterfeit tells and show genuine reference images.

Other free tools

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