Candidate

Vadim has already informed that there will be 4th part in October 2015, mentioning coins "from the last 4th part of the collection which will be auctioned in October 2015 ("... последней, четвертой части коллекции, которая пойдёт на аукцион в октябре 2015 года....") more than 2 months ago on one of the Russia's numismatic forums (link)

It was said above that "this year is hard to find". So I talked about dates, not mintmasters or other varieties. Besides, 1825ПД is not of course rare or scarce - but surely is a "better date".

$40-$45

Common holed roubles of this type ("wings up") and condition (Fine~Very Fine) are being sold at 800-1000 roubles in Russia now (equivalent of $23-$28). It is one of the most common dates of this type. Does not deserve any premium. Only dates of this type which are hard to find are 1810 (rare) and 1826 (scarce). 1821, 1825 and 1820 are "better dates".

I have 2 of same variety ("shield touches the crown"). At "Monetny Dvor" 7 are listed, of them only one (which you 've mentioned already - from Golberg # 5 of June 2000) was in proorf

By photos, it does not look like proof.

Like this?

Maybe this will help: Year Mintmark Mintage 1975 - UNC 250 000 1976 - UNC 1 000 000 1977 LMD UNC 1 000 000 1977 MMD UNC 1 000 000 1978 MMD UNC 350 000 1979 MMD UNC 1 000 000 1980 MMD UNC 900 000 1980 MMD PROOF 100 000 1980 LMD PROOF not known, rare 1981 MMD UNC 65 000 1981 MMD UNC not known, rare 1982 MMD UNC 50 000 1982 LMD UNC not known, rare

1976 gold "Chervonetz" coins (not "10 ruble" coins) were minted only without mintmark. 1976 coins bearing "LMD" mintmark do not exist, though supposedly in 1976 they were minted both at LMD (Leningrad Mint) and MMD (Moscow Mint). To my knowledge, there are no known attributes of 1976 coins which could help to distinguish coins minted at either.

"Collectors believed that none of them entered circulation" They surely did enter circulation, though mostly locally - in according Russian regions. "As of why the low mintage - who knows, maybe political factors came in play" Unlikely. Rumoors were were that mint simply did not have time and/or resources to cope with previously set plan before end of year - as they had to do some other urgent job. Another version is a "conspiracy" one: thet someone of Central Bank officials decided to make a little profit for himself "Not sure why this happened but this is quite interesting" They say, that mint by error applied reeding tool meant for "Sochi'2014" commemorative coin.

Buyers bought not coins but plastic holders with high grade figures... Proof 5 R 1987 without slab is commonly offered at below or around $40~$45.

Nice coin. And nice story, as well.

The picture which you shown first is: Lot 4194 RUSSIA. 5 Rubles, 1862. PF-SP'. Sev-476; Fr-146. Alexander II. Rare. Light hairlines, well-set gold toning. NGC graded Proof 64. Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000. Realized $2,300 from Golberg Auction 5 of June 2000. Link It is probably the best known coin of this date and now may cost somewhere near $15-$20K. It is senseless to show picture of some coin (which you found in the web) when you want to know price of your coin. It's like you want to know the price of your car (after 5 years of daily use and 100K miles) but show the picture of some other car of same make and model from catalogue, does it make any sense? Price depends on condition very much, so your coin may cost 10 times less than the example which you've shown in your first post.

Video is nice. But what it is intended for, what is it's idea?

100th anniversary since the death of Friefrich Engels was in 1995, while the rouble was issued in 1985. In fact this coin commemorated 165th anniversary of his birth.

Looks really nice, congratulations. Just one minor correction: it is stated that "1 ruble coins were not struck in 1962 and 1963". To this statement I'd add: "for circulation". As trial strikes of 1-ruble coins existed with these dates and are described in numsmatic literature. Also, you wrote: "Only exception is the 1958 and all other pattern coins". There were patterns in 1958 as well, but most known series of 1958 (from 1 kopek to 5 roubles) were not "patterns", but regular coins which were not released into circulation.

Tula is not a capital or worldwide-known centre as Madrid, so it's better to use local (Russian language) search engine, as yandex.ru , for example. If you enter "монеты в туле" in Yandex search line - you will get a link to coins shop(s) in Tula pretty easy... Or you can use specialized web-site about "numismatic places" worldwide ("1504 places in 564 cities of 114 countries")/ And in many cases you will find not just addresses but descriptions and references of many shops, fairs, clubs, etc. (They have one address in Tula as well, by the way)

Seems you undervalue Google ... or just too lazy to type in it's search line. The top result after entering "coin shops in madrid" is: "Stamp & coin market On Sunday mornings, an avid mass of stamp and coin collectors swarm over the Plaza Mayor, buying, selling and eyeing up each others' wares. This also acts as a Sunday-morning attraction for anyone out on a stroll in town, whether or not they are really bothered about tarnished old pesetas, stamps of all nations and 19th-century share certificates. Other traders sell old magazines, second-hand books, postcards, badges and ex-Soviet bloc military regalia. You can even get phonecards nowadays, along with just about anything else that someone, somewhere, considers collectable". Address Plaza Mayor,Los Austrias Area Madrid Transport Metro Sol. Open approx 9am-2pm Sun.

Here are some notes and comments: “Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen (misspelt by the English) is a large island owned by Norway. In 1932, a Soviet company Arktikugol (literally - Arctic Coal) bought rights to mine coal”. It is not 100% correct. The island (actually, archipelago) was no one’s land till 1920, when by decision of Paris conference it was passed to Norway, but was announced demilitarised and neutral territory. Russia did not participate in the conference and did not recognise the Norway rights for the island till 1924 when recognised them first by bilateral agreement with Norway, and fully recognised them only in 1935, thus joining the states which participated in 1920 international Paris conference. The conditions adopted in 1920 included that citizens and enterprises of all the states can settle and work freely in Spitzbergen. So Arcticugol, founded in 1931, did not need to “buy” any rights to start mining. But in 1932 Arcticugol bought some coal mines from Norwegian company, these mines were added to other Russian assets in Spitzbergen (which belonged to Russia since second half of 19th century). “... why was there a need to issue different coinage for this mining town? " These were not coins but rather corporate tokens with limited circulation. And the reason why separate tokens and notes were issued instead using regular Soviet coins and banknotes you already explained yourself: “These … caused a huge uproar with the Norwegians. As the islands of the Svalbard archipelago belongs to Norway, putting "Russian Federation" on the coins caused controversies”. “1946 - 10, 15, 20, 50 kopek” (1 series) There are also 2 varieties of 50 kopek coin differing by shapes of star and date digits. This series was in circulation till 1957, when they were completely replaced by paper Arcticugol notes. Collectors should beware of modern good quality fakes which exist for every denomination of 1946 issue. “As of why only these four types of coins were struck instead of the eight struck for Soviet Union (1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 kopek), I have no idea why” There were also several series of paper notes, with denomination strating from 1 kopek. “1993 - 10, 25, 50, 100 ruble” (2nd series) It is for sure that it was Arcticugol who issued (ordered) this series. But there are still some arguments among the collectors of whether this issue was “official” but not released into circulation due to problems with Norway, or “unofficial”. Anyway, most probably these tokens never entered circulation. Mintage is reported to be about 77500 for each denomination (total ca.300K), large (or most) part of which were later melted down. 3rd series: “1998 - 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5 (token) … It is also likely that these coins rarely circulated and mintage are very low on these coins.” These never circulated and even were not intended to. This is undoubtely unofficial private issue, not authorised by Arcticugol or any Russian authorities. All tokens minted went directly to coin dealers and collectors. The mintage was 6000 of each denomination. Plus some “probas” (trials) in several different metals - including even silver and gold (sic!) - up to100 pcs. of each type. So the only true and undisputed circulating issue was that of 1946 (1st series).

I do not think it is new die type. But certainly it is a die variety. There are 2 obverse types of 1844MW Rouble (with "straight" eagle tail and with fan tail) and only 1 reverse type. And reverse die and one of obverse types (that with fan tail) has 2 major varieties each (and their combinations) plus some die mistakes and an overdate making total about dozen varieties (some of them being rare) described in catalogues. Due to large mintage there surely are lots more (maybe hundreds) of minor varities which is probably impossible to fully catalogue and systematize. Kocheregin, Russian numismatist of beginning of XX century, in his article devoted to rare varieties of XIX century roubles has described 28 different varietes of 1844MW, and mentioned that he had total of 57 different 1844MW roubles in his collection.

It actually was: "There is no news in The Truth and no truth in The News" (in Russian it sounded as: "В "Известиях" нет правды, а в "Правде" нет известий").

I believe that breaking laws and improper, antisocial behaviour is "a risky move" always and everywhere.

In Russia "defacing or mutilating coins" is not a crime by itself. I don't even think that this counterstamp is preventing a coin from being a legal tender (I am not a specialist, though Central Bank of Russia has certain rules for it and I don't think that this coin does not comply). But this kind of counterstamp may formally be a reason to lay charges of difamation (art. 128 and 129 of Criminal Law of Russian Federation) to a person who made such a counterstamp/ And if you are not the person who made this counterstamp and distrbuted such coins (thus publicly accusing Putin as being a criminal) it is certainly not "dangerous" for a collector to acquire or keep this coin as a part of collection.

Even 4-5 years after the issue they were still pretty cheap, much cheaper than you think, for example, I bought those sets back in 2007 at approx.: - 2002SPB: $8. (now approx. $200-$220) - 2002MMD: $9. (now approx. $320-$350) - 2002MMD: $13. (with silver jeton) I wish I've bought couple hundreds of those sets back then...