Medieval

First issued by Caliph Abd al-Malik in his coinage reform of 696 AD. Featured no images, only Qurani...

The first major European gold coin since the fall of Rome. Florence minted the fiorino with the lily...

The most successful trade coin in history, minted continuously for over 500 years. Featured the Doge...

The Spanish dollar or eight real coin was the first global currency. Mined from silver in Mexico and...

First issued under Henry VII, the sovereign was the flagship English gold coin. Featured the monarch...

One of the longest continuously used coin names in the world. First minted in silver by King Offa of...

One of the oldest currency names still in use until the euro. First minted as a gold coin in 1360 to...

Also called yuanbao, meaning original treasure. Boat or shoe shaped silver ingots used for large tra...

The gold coin of the Republic of Genoa, introduced the same year as the Florentine florin. Featured ...

Also called the matapan. A large silver coin introduced by Doge Enrico Dandolo. Featured the Doge re...

The main silver and gold coin of France from the 13th century to the Revolution. Louis IX introduced...

The first English gold coin produced in quantity. Featured Edward III in a ship, possibly referencin...

Featured the Arch Michael slaying a dragon. Worth 6 shillings and 8 pence initially. The angel becam...

The currency of Portugal for over 600 years. Originally a silver coin minted in the 1380s. The real ...

Named after the city of Florence, where the gold florin originated. The Hungarian forint was one of ...

The silver coin of the early Islamic Caliphate. Featured only inscriptions in Arabic, with the name ...

The gold dinar of the Abbasid Caliphate, the dominant gold coin of the medieval Mediterranean. Featu...

The gold coins minted by the Crusader states in the Holy Land. Initially copies of Byzantine and Isl...

The Knights Templar pioneered international banking during the Crusades. Pilgrims could deposit mone...

The earliest form of paper money in China, originating in the Tang Dynasty. Called flying cash becau...

Notched willow sticks used to record debts in medieval England. The tally was split lengthwise, with...

Minted under Henry II through Henry III. Featured a short cross design rather than a long cross exte...

The standard gold coin of the Ottoman Empire, also called the altin. Modeled on the Venetian ducat w...

The Malay sultanates issued tin cash coins modeled on Chinese cash coins but with Arabic inscription...

The Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency. A rabbit cost 10 cocoa beans and a slave cost 100. Cocoa be...

The first franc coin, a gold coin depicting King John II on horseback. Created to pay the ransom for...

The primary coin of Anglo-Saxon and medieval England for centuries. Hand-hammered, not machine made....

Worth four pence. Introduced by Edward I in 1279. Featured the king on a throne. The groat was the f...

The largest and most impressive English gold coin of the Tudor period. Featured Henry VII seated on ...

The earliest surviving paper money, issued by the Ming Dynasty. The Hongwu Emperor issued these note...

Thin silver wire coins hammered into irregular shapes by hand. Called dengi or kopeks. Each coin was...

A silver coin introduced by Heraclius during the war with Persia. Featured the emperor and his son o...

A gold coin that replaced the solidus as the standard Byzantine gold coin. Slightly lighter than the...

The copper coin of everyday commerce in the early Islamic world. Unlike gold dinars and silver dirha...

The first purely Islamic gold coin. Caliph Abd al-Malik introduced it in his coinage reform of 696. ...

The silver coin of the Crusader kingdoms, modeled on the French denier. Featured a cross and the nam...

The coins of the Chola Empire of southern India. Featured the Chola tiger emblem, fish, and bow. The...

The coinage of the Papal States, featuring the reigning pope. Papal coins were minted in Rome for ov...

A small Venetian silver coin worth 12 piccoli. The soldino was used in everyday commerce. Venice had...

The silver grosso of Florence was an important trade coin. Featured a lily on one side and Saint Joh...

A thin silver coin introduced by Leo III, modeled on the Islamic dirham. Featured a cross and steps ...

The coinage of Kievan Rus under Vladimir the Great and his successors. Featured the rulers portrait ...

Long thin silver ingots used in medieval Novgorod and other Russian cities. Also called wire money o...

Tin cash coins of the Malay sultanates, influenced by Chinese cash coins but with local characterist...

Korean cash coins modeled on Chinese cash coins but with Korean inscriptions. Featured the name of t...

Vietnamese cash coins with Chinese style inscriptions but Vietnamese dynastic names. Minted by the L...

Silver coins shaped like a bullet or bent seed. Also called pod duang. Each piece was handmade by be...

A gold coin introduced by Nikephoros II Phokas, slightly lighter and wider than the histamenon. The ...

Also called trachy, these cup shaped coins are unique to Byzantium. The reason for the cup shape is ...

Coins minted by the Latin Empire established after the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople in 120...

Coins of the Empire of Nicaea, one of the Byzantine successor states after the Fourth Crusade. Emper...

Coins of the Turk Shahi dynasty that ruled Kabul and Gandhara. Featured bull and horseman designs, r...

See Islamic Fals. Early Umayyad copper coins retained Byzantine and Sasanian imagery before the refo...

Copper coins of the Abbasid Caliphate, minted in dozens of cities across the Islamic world. Each cit...

Coins of the Ayyubid dynasty founded by Saladin. Featured the names of the ruler and the Abbasid cal...

Coins of the Mamluk Sultanate that ruled Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1517. The Mamluks were slave s...

Coins of the Fatimid Caliphate, the Shia rival to the Abbasid caliphs. Fatimid gold dinars were reno...

Gold dinars of the Almoravid dynasty that ruled Morocco and Muslim Spain. The Almoravids controlled ...

Coins of the Almohad Caliphate that succeeded the Almoravids. Featured the name of the Almohad ruler...

The coins of the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state in Spain. Featured the Nasrid motto There...

Coins of the Marinid dynasty that succeeded the Almohads in Morocco. The Marinids attempted to recre...

The coinage of the Vijayanagara Empire, the last great Hindu empire of southern India. Featured Hind...

See Chinese Sycee entry. Sycee were also called yuanbao meaning original treasure. The shape varied ...

A Chinese coin type featuring mythological scenes from the Fengshen Yanyi, the popular Chinese novel...

See Crusader Bezant entry. The term bezant was used by Western Europeans for any gold coin from Byza...

See Knights Templar Banking entry. The Templar letter of credit was revolutionary because it allowed...

Coins of the Hanseatic League, the powerful trading network of northern European cities. The Hanseat...

A thin single sided silver coin produced in medieval Germany and Scandinavia. The design was stamped...

A French imitation of the English gros tournois. Featured the walls of Tours on one side and a cross...

A French gold coin featuring angels, related to the English angel coin. The angelot was minted durin...

The English silver penny of the Norman and Plantagenet kings, renowned for its consistent silver con...

The Byzantine name for the gold solidus. The nomisma was the standard gold coin of the Byzantine Emp...

The last Umayyad copper coins before the reform of Abd al-Malik. These coins showed the caliph stand...

A copper coin of the Abbasid period used for small transactions. The copper dirham or fels was minte...

The massive stone discs of Yap island in Micronesia, used as a store of wealth. The largest rai ston...