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UK Coin Identifier

Found a coin and not sure what it is? Answer four short questions, or measure a worn coin's diameter and weight, and we'll match it to our catalogue of 4,873+ British coins, with realised auction values on every match.

  1. Step 1Portrait
  2. Step 2Denomination
  3. Step 3Year
  4. Step 4Finish
  5. Step 5Match

Step 1, Whose portrait is on the coin?

Turn the coin to the obverse (heads side) and look at the portrait. Pick the closest match.

Queen Victoria 1837–1901 Side-facing portrait, often diademed or veiled King Edward VII 1901–1910 Bearded right-facing portrait King George V 1910–1936 Left-facing crowned portrait, moustache King Edward VIII 1936 Left-facing portrait, almost all are pattern coins King George VI 1936–1952 Left-facing portrait, clean-shaven Queen Elizabeth II 1952–2022 Right-facing, five different portraits across her reign King Charles III 2022– Left-facing portrait by Martin Jennings Earlier monarch (pre-1837) Hanoverian, Stuart, Tudor, medieval Hammered or older milled coinage, George IV, William IV, Anne, Charles II, Henry, Edward, etc.
Tip: Most UK coins from the past 70 years carry Queen Elizabeth II. From 2022 onwards, new issues feature King Charles III's left-facing portrait. If you're unsure between two monarchs, pick the later one and check the year on the next step.

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, which works even when the coin is worn smooth. Either way you typically end with one to three matches, each linking to a full coin page with realised auction prices, mintage figures, rarity scores and reference images. We don't use AI guesses: every result is a real coin in the catalogue.

Frequently asked

How accurate is this coin identifier?
It uses a structured decision tree against our 4,700+ catalogue of British coins. If you correctly identify the portrait, denomination and year, the tool will narrow to the exact coin or a small handful of variants. For ambiguous coins (e.g. mules, errors, patterns) the result page links to 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 you can usually guess the decade from the portrait style; pick a representative year and review the matches.
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. The identifier ranks every catalogued British coin by physical closeness, so even a smooth, dateless coin usually narrows to a handful of candidates.
How accurately do I need to measure?
The diameter search allows 1.2mm either way and weight allows 12%, so a household ruler and kitchen scales are fine. Calipers and 0.01g scales narrow the results further. Weigh the coin clean and dry; heavy wear can remove a few percent of the original weight.
Does this work for foreign or Roman coins?
No. This identifier is scoped to British circulation and commemorative coinage from medieval times to the present. For Roman, Anglo-Saxon hammered 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.

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