UK, Canadian and Australian Coins: How to Identify Yours

Read the words around the edge first

Start with the inscriptions, because they settle the question faster than the pictures do. Canadian coins say CANADA, usually on the side opposite the portrait. Australian coins put AUSTRALIA right next to the monarch's name on the portrait side, along with the date.

British coins are the odd ones out: they never name the country at all. Instead you get the monarch's name followed by a string of abbreviated Latin, such as ELIZABETH II D G REG F D or CHARLES III D G REX F D. If you see that and a value written as PENCE or POUND, you're holding a UK coin.

• UK: monarch's name with D G REG F D or D G REX F D, values in PENCE or POUNDS, no country name
• Canada: CANADA on the coin, values in CENTS or DOLLAR, often a maple leaf, loon or caribou
• Australia: AUSTRALIA beside the monarch's name, native animals such as the kangaroo, platypus or echidna

Some of the scarcest coins we track

Use the portrait to narrow down the date

Queen Elizabeth II appeared on the coins of all three countries for decades, so her face alone doesn't tell you the country. What it does tell you is the era. Each country updated the portrait every so often. An older or younger version of the Queen puts your coin in a window of years before you even read the date.

Britain and Australia shared the same British portraits: Arnold Machin, then Raphael Maklouf, then Ian Rank-Broadley, then Jody Clark. Canada went its own way after the 1980s, using portraits by Dora de Pédery-Hunt and later Susanna Blunt. Between late 2022 and late 2023 all three countries began issuing coins with King Charles III. He faces the opposite direction to the Queen, as tradition dictates for a new monarch.

What's worth keeping from each country

Most foreign coins in a jar are ordinary circulation pieces. A few series reward a closer look, though. They're the reason these hub pages exist.

• UK 50p coins: commemoratives such as the 2009 Kew Gardens (210,000 made) and the 29 Olympic sports coins of 2011
• UK £2 coins: the 1989 Claim of Right and the four 2002 Commonwealth Games coins
• Canadian cents: the 1858, the 1907 H, the early 1920s small cents and the 1955 no shoulder fold
• Canadian loonies: Olympic lucky loonies and low-mintage commemoratives
• Australian $2 coins: the 2012 red poppy, the 2013 Coronation and the 2011 date

How these coins end up in American change

Travelers bring them home and forget about them, then they get dumped into a coin jar or passed along in a handful of change. Canadian coins turn up most often, especially near the border, because the cent, nickel, dime and quarter are close in size to their US counterparts. Check the back of any quarter that looks a little different: a caribou means it's Canadian.

UK and Australian coins are less likely to slip by unnoticed. The seven-sided 50p, the two-tone £2 and the small, thick Australian $2 don't look like anything the US Mint makes.

Is a foreign coin worth more than face value?

Usually not. The great majority were struck in the millions and trade at face value in their home country. The exceptions are coins with unusually low mintages, early dates in good condition and a few popular commemoratives that collectors chase to finish a set. Those can carry a small premium, while the true key dates carry a collector premium.

Follow the links to each country's page, find your coin in the tables and compare its mintage with the others in the series. That comparison tells you more than any listing headline.

Frequently asked questions