Crimea AH 1191/5 kyrmis KM-68
This specimen was lot 75417 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $105. The catalog description[1] noted, "RUSSIA. Crimea. Kyrmis (5 Kopeks), AH 1191 Year 5 (1781). Bagchih-Serai Mint. Shahin Giray (under Catherine II "the Great"). NGC VF Details--Rim Damage. A difficult and popular type despite the noted edge damage. NGC has incorrectly attributed this to year 4." The Crimea, long a tributary of the Ottomans, was conquered and annexed by the forces of Catherine the Great in 1782. We think the weight reported by Numista to be correct, as the coin is larger in diameter than a silver dollar (38 mm). One kyrmis equaled three beshliks but this coin's weight matches the regular five kopeks or the ten kopeks being struck for Siberia, so we assume it had roughly the same value.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 16 g (per the SCWC), 64.5 g (per Numista), copper, 42 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-68; Bit-32; A-2118.
- Album, Stephen, Checklist of Islamic Coins, 3rd Ed. Santa Rosa, Stephen Album Rare Coins, 2011.
- Bitkin, Vladimir, Composite Catalogue of Russian Coins, Part II (1740-1917), Kiev: Moneta, 2003.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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