Art Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Steve D'Ippolito's 1833 3 Rubles Platinum, Russia This is a worn, bent example of the Russian 3 ruble platinum piece issued from 1828-1845. It has also been knifed (possibly for acid testing) twice, forming an X on the obverse. Platinum first came to the attention of European science in what is now Colombia; it showed up as nuggets mixed in with gold in panning on the Rio del Pinto. It was not regarded as valuable; in fact it was a nuisance because the panners had to painstakingly sort the nuggets. When platinum nuggets were noticed near the Urals in Russia, peasants would actually use them as shot in their shotguns. (Imagine blowing 1/4 or even 1/2 ounce of platinum nuggets out the muzzle of a shotgun!) Anyhow, Russia faced an annoying situation in the late 1820s--they had both paper and silver coinage in circulation but they did not trade at par (four paper rubles made a silver ruble). Enter the platinum coinage. These coins were issued by Russia as an extension of the silver coinage (note the value reads 3 Rubles "in Silver"). Not coincidentally, the platinum mines were owned by the politically powerful Demidov family. The three ruble piece did circulate to a very limited extent, as seen with this very coin. The Russians introduced a 6 ruble piece the next year and a 12 the year after that; these did not circulate. There is also a lot of fascinating information on how the coins were made but I'd probably exceeded people's tolerance for coin trivia by now. The 3 ruble piece stands as the only platinum coinage ever issued with the intent of circulating, that actually did so. Mark Stilson's Feuchtwanger composition one cent Feuchtwanger composition one cent ht-268 (61) 1837 was the start of what is known as "The Hard Times" or "Panic of 1837" Lewis Feuchtwanger started minting his own coins due to a shortage of small change during this time. They actually were used as money during that time. ccg's 1862 1 Cent, USA Mark's 2000 Isle of Man Prime Meridian 1 Crown commemorative The brass used on reverse was taking from original prime meridian which passed through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in southeast London, United Kingdom. The Prime Meridian in Greenwich is now stainless steel. ccg's 1791 12 Deniers, France Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted November 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 Terribly difficult to make a choice here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 I have voted for the platinum 3 rubles but now I realize that this is the base metals group, surely platinum is both a pure & precious metal After casting my votes in the other groups I now realize that there is no other group better suited in which to place platinum, so I am happy to let my vote stand, phew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 I have voted for the platinum 3 rubles but now I realize that this is the base metals group, surely platinum is both a pure & precious metal There were multiple categories at first, bimetallic, other precious metals, non-metals, base metals... There weren't a lot of entries in any of those categories, so this is the combination of four categories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constanius Posted November 1, 2011 Report Share Posted November 1, 2011 There were multiple categories at first, bimetallic, other precious metals, non-metals, base metals... There weren't a lot of entries in any of those categories, so this is the combination of four categories. Well I am happy to have voted for your rouble I think the info you supplied might have influenced me somewhat in my very tough decision. Any one would be a worthy winner, but alas only one can win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 With about 2 1/2 hours to go, unless there is a late vote the platinum won't be winning. I wanted to thank those who voted for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Introducing the PCI2011 BaseMetals, BiMetallic, Non-Metals, etc. Champion Mark Stilson's Feuchtwanger composition one cent Feuchtwanger composition one cent ht-268 (61) 1837 was the start of what is known as "The Hard Times" or "Panic of 1837" Lewis Feuchtwanger started minting his own coins due to a shortage of small change during this time. They actually were used as money during that time. Congratulations to Mark and a very special thanks to all for their efforts in making this a super PCI. Great job everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 A very worthy winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hispania Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 i really like that eagle!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts