Russia 1739 1/4 ruble
This specimen was lot 4553 in Goldberg sale 84 (Los Angeles, January 2015), where it sold for $1,087. The catalog description[1] noted, "Russia. Polupoltinnik (¼ Ruble), 1739. Anna. Scarce two year type. NGC graded Fine-15." It was subsequently lot 75411 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $312. This type was issued from St. Petersburg. The coinage of Russia of the eighteenth century is a confusing and fascinating subject. Many quarter ruble types were issued only briefly and can be dated even if they don't bear dates. This type, issued 1739-40, is the first not stratospherically priced yet still very scarce. The massive portrait of the empress can only have been drawn from life. The polupoltinniks of Peter I were about 7 grams, 0.875 fine, but shrank to 6 grams, 0.750 fine, by the end of the reign of Catherine the Great.
Recorded mintage: unknown but very scarce.
Specification: 6.46 g, .802 fine silver.
Catalog reference: Bitkin 1st ed-79; KM-202.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Bitkin, Vladimir, Composite Catalogue of Russian Coins, Part I (1699-1740), Kiev: Moneta, 2003.
- Harris, Robert P., Guidebook of Russian Coins, 1725 to 1970, Santa Cruz, CA: Bonanza Press, 1971.
- [1]Goldberg, Ira, Larry Goldberg, Aleeza Brown, Yifu Che, Jason Villareal and Stephen Harvey, Goldberg Sale 84: the Pre-Long Beach Auction, Los Angeles: Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, 2014.
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