Large Russian Copper

laurentyvan

As interesting as I find the coins of Catherine II, I find those of Paul I somewhat boring. Having said that it is so hard to find large Russian copper in any kind of condition that I didn't hesitate to grab this 1799 2 Kopek when I found it. It has some ugly dark splotches and one half of the 2 is poorly struck but it's still the best condition 18th century 2 Kopek that I own.

Very little nice Russian copper on E-Bay these days-most everything I saw recently was gold and silver out of about 1200 items. Is copper scarce?

This coin was sold to me as an AU but I'm not sure it isn't XF. What do you think?





ed for spelling

Refrema

I have had the same sort of problems, and have often settled for less then XF examples. One thing to remember is that often these were struck very poorly, so the best examples still do not look very good.

Yes, high quality Russian copper seems to be very rare.

Bob

nicholasz219

I would say that you have an appealing piece there but that copper coins of this size were just poorly struck. I have an example from each year at the Ekaterinberg Mint, and there are several with weak strikes, particularly evident in the date and denomination numerals. Not so much on the monogram side (even though in your example you can see it in the upper right curl of the letter).

In my opinion, I would give it a strong XF. Detail in some of the devices is weak, but overall an excellent coin. I love this series myself, and have a really hard time not buying all examples even when I own a duplicate.

Nick

gxseries

That's quite a nice coin. Well done laurentyvan!

Russian coins minted in EM or Ekaterinburg Mint were poor struckly until the mint received new minting equipments from St. Petersburg around late 1820s. The mint lasted till 1870s, as that is when St. Petersburg is capable of minting all coinages.

It is somewhat true that Russia's minting technology did lag compared to her European counterparts. The mint that produced almost all of the coins for Russia (except copper) was St. Petersburg mint that used outdated technologies until 1810s, and that was also when edge technology was switched from extrusive text to intrusive text.

The reason why Ekaterinburg Mint minted most of the copper coins was only because Ekaterinburg supplied almost all of Russia's copper needs and actually excess. Perhaps that is a good reason why Ekaterina I thought of a bizarre idea of make 1 ruble coins out of 1 kilo copper planchet (Sestrosk Ruble 1771, err whatever you spell it). Sure was a brilliant plan to back rubles by such huge coins, but it proved to be more than difficult.

I agree that Paul I's high quality copper coins are not easy to find, but it has not be proven to be impossible. If you really like to have a UNC or proof example, you might be better off to get a novodel, although it is not a lot cheaper. The other time I remember seeing a AU58BR 1798 2k for 300USD on the bay if I am not mistaken.

laurentyvan

Thank you for the interesting background on Russian numismatics. I recently picked up a nice hardcover reference book (used- pub in 1971 in Sweden) Copper Coins of Russia 1700 to 1900 which has been helpful but it's always nice to get details from those in the know.

Refrema

I have that book, and find it very useful. You might also want to look for the supplement for that volume that was published in 1997. It is smaller, but is very well done in hard cover, and has quite a lot of information about Errors, Overdates, Overstrikes, and fakes.

Bob