Coin Arena

About Coin Arena

Seven competitions use real museum photographs of 1,791 coin types from the American Numismatic Society, each shown obverse and reverse. Name a coin, choose the realm that struck it, pick the ruler or issuer it names, choose its metal, enter a year of minting, or match ten coins and names.

The library spans ten collections, from Greek cities and the Roman world to the Islamic world, South Asia, East Asia and the modern world to 1914. Play famous coins, one collection or a balanced mix. Every fact is one that at least two catalogued specimens agree on.

How to play

Goal

Recognize historic coins of the world from both faces, and learn the states that struck them, the rulers they name, their metals and when they were minted.

How it ends

Finish ten questions or ten pairs, exhaust the sprint clock, or make one sprint mistake.

Record

Best score, highest minting reserve, or fastest matching finish, with time and the player’s name.

1. Recognition Sprint: choose the pictured coin from eight names. You have 90 continuously running seconds; one wrong answer ends the run. Most correct answers wins, with time of the last correct answer breaking ties.
2. Name Search: identify ten coins. Type part of a name or another name, ignoring case and accents, and choose the exact coin from the filtered list.
3. Realm: a coin with its denomination; choose the state or realm that struck it from eight, the other seven nearest in collection and time. A wrong answer scores nothing but the run continues. Most correct answers wins, then the faster total time.
4. Issuer: choose the ruler or authority the coin names from eight, nearest in collection and time. Most correct answers wins, then the faster total time.
5. Metal: choose the metal the coin was struck in. Billon is silver heavily mixed with copper; electrum is a natural gold and silver alloy; copper and bronze are one choice, since a photograph cannot tell them apart.
6. Minted Year: enter one year, BC or AD. Any year of the reviewed minting dates, both ends included, costs zero; outside them, each year off costs one reserve point, at most 100, from a 1,000 reserve. Highest reserve wins, with time breaking ties.
7. Matching: select or drag a coin onto its name. Match all ten pairs. Each wrong pair adds three seconds; fastest adjusted finish wins.

Controls

Tips

• Read the script Greek letters, Latin legends, Arabic calligraphy and Chinese characters place a coin before its design does.
• Square holes and punch marks Cast cash with a square hole points to East Asia; punch-marked silver to ancient India.
• Mintings are ranges Any year of the dated range counts; a year near the middle is the safest guess.

Good to know

Every photograph is a public-domain image of an American Numismatic Society specimen, with a link to its museum record. Opening help, rules or full credits during a ranked question, leaving the tab or restoring an unfinished run makes that attempt practice. Minting years are reviewed ranges, not exact dates.

Watch how to play

Watch the tutorial 4:11

Questions