Russia 1859-EM kopek
This specimen was lot 75648 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, May 2025), where it sold for $65. The catalog description[1] noted, "RUSSIA. Polushka (1/4 Kopek), 1859/8-EM. Ekaterinburg Mint. Alexander II. NGC AU Details--Environmental Damage. Variety with overdate and toothed border." This coin is not a polushka ("ПОЛУШКА") but a kopek ("КОПѢЙКА"), one of a type struck at Ekaterinburg 1859-67. A variety with a plain border (KM Y3.1) was also struck at Ekaterinburg in 1859 along with some from Warsaw (KM Y3.2). The specification given here is from Numista; the 4 g standard in the SCWC is wrong. The SCWC does not mention the overdate noticed here.
Recorded mintage: 11,059,000 (all varieties).
Specification: 5.12 g, copper, 23.15 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM Y3.3 (as normal date).
- Bitkin, Vladimir, Composite Catalogue of Russian Coins, Part II (1740-1917), Kiev: Moneta, 2003.
- Brekke, B. F., The Copper Coinage of Imperial Russia, 1700-1917, New York, Galerie des Monnaies, 1977, with 1987 supplement.
- Harris, Robert P., Guidebook of Russian Coins, 1725 to 1970, Santa Cruz, CA: Bonanza Press, 1971.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, May 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction: Ancient & World Coins, featuring selections from the Sydney F. Martin Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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