Hi all,

I have just got a novice question about the 1 Rouble Silver coins of 1921 to 1927 (not sure about the years)
my question is:
Which coin of the 1 Rouble 1921 to 1927 is the rarest? (I'm not sure about 1927 coin if exist at all)

can some give me an idea of how much the coins should cost? if there is a rare year I would be glad to know of.

there are also Silver 50 Kopeks, are they also expensive?
I know that the Silver is 1 ounce of silver is 20.80 $ is that right?

Thanks in advanced
TQ

There were only 1921, 1922, and 1924 that I know of. I think 1922 is the toughest, but possible. There were 3 at the same time on ebay a few months ago. It would be fun to collect all proofs, but I think it is a bit too late in the game for that.

Yes, you are right, 1922 is the infrequent one, especially in proof. You can find it with no problems in vf-xf conditions.
Here is one for example, look at price - http://cgi.ebay.com/PCGS-PROOF-63-SOVIET-R...1QQcmdZViewItem

Link appears to be broken. Try this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=280203759061

That works.

The coin sold for $4,921.00 + shipping to a buyer in the Russian Federation.

Link to ebay auction picture.

The proof 1921 and 1922 RSFSR roubles are high priced now a days. Some years ago, I purchased the Heifetz 1922 Proof "AG" rouble from one of the Superior Hesselgesser auctions. Heifetz (Superior, Dec. 1989) had a complete 1922 proof set containing the AG and PL specimens of the poltina and the rouble. In the Hesselgesser sale, they sold them individually. As I said, I paid $1900 for the "AG" proof (NGC PF66 - a beautiful red-toned specimen "http://www.omnicoin.com/coin_view.aspx?id=909401"), but someone paid $4900 for the "PL" specimen, NGC PF65. I couldn't figure out why that one went for so much as at that time, 2004, all the references said that "AG" was rarer, even in proof, than the "PL" variety. Because I was intrigued, I have researched these two varieties, and I still can't understand if there was any logical reason for the price differential. It's hard to compare because every coin is a unique work of art, and has survived with different characteristics. Unless one could find two coins that were identically preserved, save for the mintmaster, it would be impossible to tell, and there are no figures, as I understand it, for proof mintages. So all I can deduce is that, in that particular auction, there were at least two people who wanted the "PL" more than they wanted the "AG" proof, even though the "AG" coin was much nicer than the "PL" coin.

There also are two varieties of the location of the "comma" that comes after "STRAN," so perhaps that is it, but I'm not sure. Perhaps Bob Julian might comment, or another expert. But, given today's prices, I'm sure glad that I bought the coin when I did. Probably worth something north of $10,000 now. Just amazing!

The RSFSR proof is a nice coin, but your avatar wings down coin is much, much more interesting and desirable in my opinion. It is really just a spectacular example of an extremely attractive design type.

This is another Hesselgesser coin that I also bought in 2004 in a Superior auction. The Russians at that auction were grabbing proofs right and left. This coin was sandwiched between two expensive proofs, and I managed to sneak in my bid for $7500 and pick it up. It didn't seem like the Russians were ready at that point to go big bucks for mint state coins, even though this 1826 may be the finest known. It's in an NGC MS67 slab. As you say, this type is hard to find in unc, and the 1826 is the scarcest of the variety. Actually both varieties of the 1826 are scarce. I don't think anyone knows how many of each variety was made. They were still minting the old style in the beginning of 1826. The total for the year 1826 is supposed to be around 700,000, but how many were the "new" style of the "Alexander" eagle, no one knows. The other years of the Wings Down variety had much heavier mintages, and they turn up all the time, but not in unc.

This coin is also in my online Omnicoin collection (ahlbeback) along with the 1922 rouble.

Unfortunately, I think my Russian buying days are over. I can't compete with these tremendous prices nice Russian coins are bringing. And the prices are even higher in Russia. Just pick up a Moneti I Madali catalog if you want to see some real prices!!

Marv Finnley

Putting the ultra fine specimens aside since I can never afford one in the future unless I win the lottery, and back to the topic (yes, I would love to own one in the future ) Soviet ruble coins were just struck in 1921, 22 and 1924.

I don't think they are struck in one full ounce but somewhere at 20 grams or so if I am not mistaken. 50 kopeks is 10 grams, same specification from the old Tsarist era. A nice decent 1921 and 1924 might set you 50 dollars each but 1922 - let's not think about it. The lowest I've seen is at 200 usd unless you don't mind a totally damaged coin which uh, a 50 kopek set is much easier to achieve, that is if you don't really care about mintmasters and patterns.

Reminds me of the days when I bought the 1921 and 1924 ruble at around 10usd each.

The coins were struck to the old Tsarist standard.

Whatever the reason (civil war, hostile foreign powers, inherent communist inefficiencies, famine, political threats to communist rule - take your pick), the Communist government hyperinflated the rouble to meet its spending requirements by printing massive amounts of paper money.

In order to stabilize the rouble, Lenin brought in the NEP (New Economic Policy) which allowed for a bit more private economic activity and introduced a money that would be accepted by the people - communist coins in silver and copper, struck to the specifications of the old familiar Tsarist coinage. Gold was also struck, but I think only for purposes of foreign trade rather than for circulation within the RSFSR/USSR.

The NEP produced some economic revival within the country, allowing the Communist government time to consolidate its grip on power. Once secured, the NEP was reversed by Stalin and the Tsarist specification coins were replaced with a token base metal coinage.