Russia 1893-SP AG 15 kopeks
This specimen was lot 72742 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Santa Ana, CA, October 2019), where it sold for $960. The catalog description[1] noted, "RUSSIA. 15 Kopeks, 1893-CNB AT. St. Petersburg Mint. Alexander III. NGC MS-67. Tied for finest certified with only one other example on the NGC census, none graded at this superlative state of preservation on the PCGS population report. The piece exhibits an immaculate strike with full cartwheel luster, frosted devices and silky smooth satiny surfaces. A thin veneer of champagne tone near the edges and atop the reverse devices gives this piece an appealing look certain to catch the eye of the discerning collector." The fifteen kopeks, a quasi-decimal denomination as ten and twenty kopeks were also minted, was struck in large numbers 1867-1917. None were made in 1894 or 1895. The communists struck a similar coin in .500 silver until 1931.
Recorded mintage: 6,500,000, a common date.
Specification: 2.70 g, 0.500 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-21a.2; Bit-125.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The October 2019 Collector's Choice Sale: World and Ancient Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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