Russia 1826-SP NG ruble Dav-282

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Ex: Hesselgesser Auction (Superior) June 2004
1826rev.jpg

This rare piece was struck at the beginning of the reign of Tsar Nicholas I (1825-55). It wasn't until the middle of 1826 that the Tsar changed the design of the eagle for the silver coinage from the previous Wings Up design on his predecessor's (Alexander I) silver coinage to be the same type featured on the gold coinage of Alexander I, the Wings Down or Masonic variety. So the year 1826 saw both Wings Up and Wings Down silver varieties. Both types for 1826 are scarce in any condition and rare in uncirculated condition. There is no data on the mintage of each variety for 1826, only the total mintage for both varieties. The Wings Down type was struck until 1831 and, despite some substantial mintages for other years in the series, no dates are common, especially in nice condition. All were minted at St. Petersburg. As the Wiki does not currently support Cyrillic fonts, we are unable to render the coin's legends properly.

The coin pictured is probably one of the finest known if not THE finest known circulation strike as opposed to collector strikes such as proofs. It is graded by NGC as MS67. There are virtually no other MS67 original circulation strikes of early 19th century roubles graded by either PCGS or NGC. The coins were struck by machines and would normally pick up small scratches or dents from the minting process. Finding a coin with pristine surfaces like this coin probably means that it was a special coin meant for the mint collection or as a presentation coin. The history of this coin probably stems from either the Blank or Tolstoi sales (early 20th century) with possibly Virgil Brand as the buyer. From there it eventually made its way to the Hesselgesser collection sale by Superior in June, 2004, where it was sold for $7500.

Translations:

  • obverse legend: Rouble Coin and the date. Above the date, initials N G for Nikolai Grachev, the mintmaster at the mint.
  • reverse legend simply states the purity and weight of the coin: fine silver 4 zolotn(iks) 21 dolyas (Zolotniks and dolyas were old Russian measures of weight. 4 zolotniks + 21 dolyas was equal to about 18 g pure silver).
  • The mint mark at the bottom: S.P.B. for the St. Petersburg Mint.

Recorded mintage: 730,000 (split between "Wings Up"(C-130) and "Wings Down" (C-161)).

Specification: 20.73 g, 0.868 fine silver, .578 troy oz ASW.

Catalog reference: C# 161, Dav-282.

Sources:

  • Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
  • Davenport, John S., European Crowns and Talers, Since 1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
  • Bitkin, Vladimir, Composite Catalogue of Russian Coins, Part II (1740-1917), Kiev: Moneta, 2003.
  • Harris, Robert P., Guidebook of Russian Coins, 1725 to 1970, Santa Cruz, CA: Bonanza Press, 1971.
  • Julian, R.W., Russian Silver Coinage 1796-1917 1993.

Link to:

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