The really good and very rare coin for my collection



One of the rarest poltina of this series. Bitkin #124 - R2, Severin - (.-), Ilyin - 15 Roubles. I could not find it in recent auctions.

Does somebody have any auction references?

Unfortunately, no auction references ... however, the rarer eagle variety should be St. George without cape, is this correct? (It looks like there is some kind of cape in this photo).

Also, RW Julian says that there are other differences in tail feathers between the eagles.

Do you own this coin already, or are you looking to buy it?

Nice coin, Alexy! can you put up a side by side of this eagle with the common type? Im curious to see

This is correct.

RWJ

Hello Bob! Is there a cape in Alexey's photo, or are my eyes playing tricks on me??

I don't think so. Only one or two references speak about the cape on St. George. Usually following distinct mark is used: eagle of 1859 - three parallel rows of feathers in the tail, eagle of 1860 - two parallel rows of feathers. Eagle of 1859 used on some poltinas in 70s is also much smaller.

Here you can compare - This is the normal variety:

Click to view attachment

And this one is the rare variety (upcoming Künker auction, Lot No 1064, Bitkin 120 (R1), Estimate 1500 Euro):

Click to view attachment

As you see, there is also a cap there. But look on the tails - there are three rows, the upper row is missing on the normal type!

Here you can clearly see the difference (I put them next to each other):

Click to view attachment

On the left is the rare variety - small eagle, cross on the crown does not touch the circle, three rows of feathers in the tail.
On the right is the normal variety - two rows of feathers, eagle is bigger, cross on the crown touches the circle