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The fastest way to
identify a UK coin.

Five simple checks: portrait, denomination, year, metal, diameter. Match your coin to the 4,704+ British coin catalogue, with realised sale values on every match. Built for beginners, detectorists and inherited-collection hunters.

4,704+coins to match against

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Quick answer The fastest way to identify a UK coin is a five-step visual check: look at the portrait (which tells you the monarch and rough era), read the denomination on the reverse, read the year, note the metal colour, and measure the diameter. Those five data points narrow a British coin down to a single catalogue entry almost every time. MyCoinage has 4,704+ British coins in a free, searchable catalogue with realised-sale values, so you go from “what is this?” to “what is it worth?” in one visit.

Why identifying a British coin properly matters

An unidentified coin is an unvalued coin. Get the year or monarch wrong and you might assume a penny is worth 2p when it is worth £200. The Royal Mint alone has struck dozens of distinct penny designs since 1800, many almost indistinguishable at a glance to a new collector. Getting identification right up front saves you from two avoidable mistakes:

Selling a rarity for face value. A worn 1933 penny looks no different from a 1932 or 1934 penny, yet the 1933 is one of the most valuable modern British coins ever struck.
Paying too much for a common piece. Victorian “bun head” pennies span 1860 to 1894. Most years are abundant; a handful are scarce. Identifying the specific year and variety tells you which.

The five-step workflow below is the same one a dealer uses when you hand them a coin over a counter. Work through it in order and most coins land on their catalogue page in under a minute.

The five-step UK coin identification workflow

Look at the portrait

The obverse bust tells you the monarch. Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI, Elizabeth II (five portraits), Charles III. That alone gives you the era.

Read the denomination

ONE PENNY, SIXPENCE, HALF CROWN, FIFTY PENCE, TWO POUNDS. The reverse or the edge usually states it in plain English.

Read the year

Usually under the bust, sometimes near the denomination. If worn, use the monarch plus reverse design to narrow the year range.

Check the metal

Bronze, cupro-nickel, nickel-brass, silver, gold. A magnet test distinguishes post-1992 steel pennies from the older bronze.

Measure the diameter

A cheap pair of calipers settles any remaining ambiguity. 50p: 27.3mm. £2: 28.4mm. Florin: 28.5mm. Half crown: 32.3mm.

Once you have those five data points, the MyCoinage catalogue search drops you on the coin’s page, complete with realised sales, 90-day average and the all-time range at every grade.

Portrait reference: British monarchs on coins

The portrait is the single biggest identification clue. Here is a quick reference for the modern monarchs you are most likely to encounter, in approximate chronological order:

Victoria (1837 to 1901): three main portraits. The “young head” (1838 to 1887), the “Jubilee head” (1887 to 1893, crowned), and the “veiled head” (1893 to 1901, older, veiled).
Edward VII (1902 to 1910): bald, full beard, short reign. Easy to distinguish from his father Victoria and his son George V.
George V (1911 to 1936): pointed beard, military moustache. The pre-1947 silver issues are sterling or 50%.
George VI (1937 to 1952): clean-shaven, younger-looking than his father. The 1937 to 1946 silver is 50%; 1947 onwards is cupro-nickel.
Elizabeth II (1953 to 2022): five distinct portraits by Gillick, Machin, Maklouf, Rank-Broadley and Jody Clark. The portrait narrows the year range to a specific decade.
Charles III (2022 onwards): left-facing portrait by Martin Jennings, reversing the left-right alternation convention.

Earlier monarchs (Charles II, Anne, George I-IV, William IV) show up on hammered and early milled coins and require a more specialist reference; the British Museum collection is the gold-standard comparison library for those.

What makes MyCoinage a good coin identifier

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Searchable catalogue

Filter 4,704+ British coins by denomination, year range, monarch, metal and series.

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Value on every match

Identify and value in one hop. Realised auction sales, 90-day average, all-time range.

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Monarch portraits

Portrait-style sub-categories for Victoria young/Jubilee/veiled head, Elizabeth II’s five portraits, and more.

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Denomination guides

Dedicated pages for 50p, £2, £1, 20p, sovereign and crown with full date runs and mintage figures.

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Grading guide

After you identify, the grading guide explains Fine to Uncirculated so you can value correctly.

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Save for later

With a free account, one tap adds the identified coin to your collection or watchlist.

UK coin identifier vs the alternatives

A few other routes exist for identifying a coin in hand. None of them combine identification with a live value in one step quite like a purpose-built numismatic catalogue.

Method	MyCoinage	Google image search	Generic coin-ID app	Royal Mint website	Ask a dealer
UK coin coverage	Deep, primary focus	Hit or miss	Usually US-biased	Modern issues only	Deep (if specialist)
Live value shown	Realised sales	No	Estimates at best	Retail price of new issues	Buying price
Pre-decimal coins	Yes	Hit or miss	Rarely	No	Yes
Cost	Free	Free	Often paid	Free	Time and travel
Depth (mintmark, variety, error)	Detailed	Surface only	Shallow	None	Expert
Available 24/7	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Shop hours

After you identify, what next?

Identification is step one. The interesting bit comes afterwards:

Grade it. The grading guide walks through Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine, About Uncirculated, Uncirculated, Brilliant Uncirculated and Proof with photographs and examples.
Value it. The catalogue page for your coin shows realised sales at each grade, so you know what your specific condition is worth.
Save it. A free account lets you add the coin to a private collection with its grade, purchase price and photographs.
Decide what to do with it. Keep, sell, upgrade, or consign to auction. The where to sell rare coins UK guide covers the practical options.

For very old hammered coins, very worn finds, or anything you suspect of archaeological importance, the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme should be your next stop before valuation.

UK coin identifier FAQ

How do I identify a UK coin I have found?

Work through five checks in order. First, look at the portrait on the front: each British monarch from Victoria (1837 to 1901) onwards has a distinct bust, and older coins may show Charles II or earlier. Second, read the denomination from the reverse: "ONE PENNY", "SIXPENCE", "FIFTY PENCE" and so on. Third, read the year, usually under the portrait or near the denomination. Fourth, note the metal colour: bronze (brown), cupro-nickel (silvery), nickel-brass (yellow), silver (bright white, pre-1947 for most UK silver) or gold. Fifth, measure the diameter in millimetres. Those five data points match a British coin to its catalogue entry on MyCoinage in under a minute.

How do I tell if my 50p is rare?

The easiest signal is a distinctive reverse design. The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p, any of the Olympic 50ps from 2011, the Peter Rabbit series from 2016 and the Paddington series from 2018 onwards all carry a premium. Mintage numbers help: anything under 300,000 is scarce, under 1 million is interesting. Check the reverse against the MyCoinage 50p catalogue to see the mintage and the current realised-sale value. A worn circulation Kew Gardens typically trades in the £100 to £180 range; a mint-condition example can fetch more.

What UK coins are silver?

Almost all UK silver coins predate 1947. From 1920 to 1946 they were 50% silver; before 1920 they were sterling silver (92.5%). After 1947 the "silver" denominations (sixpence, shilling, florin, half-crown, crown) were struck in cupro-nickel, which looks almost identical but has no bullion value. Modern silver coins exist as proof and commemorative pieces: Britannia 1 oz, proof sovereigns and limited-issue commemoratives. A quick test: pre-1947 dated British coins that look silver almost always are. Post-1947 coins that look silver almost never are.

What is my grandfather's coin worth?

Identify the coin first using the five-step workflow above, then look up the entry in the MyCoinage catalogue. The coin page shows the latest realised sale, the 90-day average and the all-time range, per grade. Grade matters enormously: a George V 1917 sovereign in Fine condition is bullion-priced (roughly £400 to £500), while the same coin in Uncirculated can fetch £700 or more. If you cannot confidently grade the coin yourself, the grading guide walks through the scale with photographs.

Can I use Google image search to identify a UK coin?

You can, and it sometimes works, but it is unreliable. Google image search matches visual patterns, not numismatic features. A worn penny may come back as a trade token, a medal or even a foreign coin. It also does not tell you what the coin is currently worth. A numismatic identifier like the MyCoinage workflow gives you the denomination, year, monarch and a live realised-sale value in one step, without hoping the algorithm guesses right.

What is the difference between a coin identifier and a coin valuer?

A coin identifier tells you what a coin is: denomination, year, monarch, mint, metal, variety. A coin valuer tells you what it is worth today. MyCoinage does both: the five-step identifier lands you on a catalogue page that already shows the latest realised sales. You do not have to identify, leave, and look up a price somewhere else.

Do I need an account to use the UK coin identifier?

No. Identification and value lookup are free and open. You need a free account only if you want to save the coin to a collection, set a price alert, or export a PDF inventory. The catalogue, search, value summaries and the grading guide are all usable without signing in.

How do I identify a worn UK coin where the year is unreadable?

Fall back to the portrait, the reverse design, the metal and the diameter. Each British monarch has a distinctive portrait style, and many reverse designs changed by decade. A bronze penny with a young Victoria head is 1860s or 1870s; a "bun" head is 1860 to 1894; a "veiled" (old) head is 1895 to 1901. Metal helps too: UK pennies switched from bronze (pre-1992) to copper-plated steel (1992 onwards), detectable with a magnet.

Are there rare UK coins still in circulation?

Yes, though fewer than you would expect from forum chatter. The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p is the most famous, with a mintage of 210,000. The 2011 Olympic aquatics 50p with wavy lines over the swimmer's face is another. Most "rare £2 coin" claims on social media are overstated; the 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland £2 is genuinely scarce and worth more than face. The MyCoinage rare-coins list ranks the top 25 by realised sale price.

Can a metal detectorist use this identifier?

Yes, and it is one of the main use cases. Hammered silver from Henry III to Charles II and earlier milled issues are all in the catalogue. For very worn or fragmentary finds, the British Museum Portable Antiquities Scheme is the authoritative next step, but for identifiable coins the MyCoinage workflow plus a quick diameter measurement gets you a name, a date range and a value in minutes.

Identify, grade, value, track. All in one place.

Identification is free. Tracking is free up to 25 coins. No card, no install.

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