Russia 1912-SP EB 15 kopeks
This specimen was lot 21562 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Las Vegas, August 2020), where it sold for $1,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "RUSSIA. 15 Kopeks, 1912-CNB EB. St. Petersburg Mint. NGC PROOF-65. An excellent Gem proof issue from late in the reign of the final Russian czar, Nicholas II, this shimmering and lustrous example is one of the finest in the NGC census, with just two finer." The fifteen kopeks, a quasi-decimal denomination as ten and twenty kopeks were also minted, was struck in large numbers until the collapse of the regime in 1917. This date is common but the 1912-BC is rare. The communists struck a similar coin in .500 silver until 1931.
Recorded mintage: 13,333,000.
Specification: 2.70 g, 0.500 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-Y21a.2; Bit-13.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The August 2020 ANA Auction: World Coins, featuring the Duke of Lansing Collection, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.
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