United States
Value, size, edge, date, mint mark.
Compare current dimensions and move through familiar cent, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar, and dollar designs.
Open the U.S. coin chartCoin identification charts
Measure first. Match second.
A detector number cannot name a coin. Use the object itself: diameter, weight, edge, portrait, letters, reverse design, and the country where it was found.
Choose the closest family
Three charts. Three different questions.
Start broad. Each result is a possible match until several independent clues agree.
Roman
Metal, portrait, legend, reverse.
Build a shortlist with size bands, headwear, visible letters, reverse figures, and the OCRE research database.
Open the Roman coin chartMedieval / hammered
Cut, cross, bust, pellets, mint.
Read an irregular or incomplete coin without mistaking clipping, a cut fraction, or a reused coin for damage.
Open the hammered coin chartThe shared field card
Six clues before any guess.
Record the clues while the surface and context are unchanged.
- 01Both facesStraight, sharp photographs
- 02EdgePlain, reeded, lettered, cut
- 03DiameterWidest point in millimetres
- 04WeightGrams, without scraping
- 05LettersCopy only what is visible
- 06ContextDepth and private location