grivna1726

Grivna, would there be any chance that the Rylov/Sobolin catalog mention any pattern coins? As well as, would you happen to know where I can pick a copy?

I guess I'm being a bit unfair in terming it "just a catalog". It does contain some short writeups, explains mints & mintmarks, Cyrillic dating & some others but nothing not already covered in more depth in Uzdenikov and other works. I see nothing on post-Soviet patterns, just the regular & commemorative NCLT issues up to 1993. The book was published in Moscow in 1994. Your pattern(?) is not listed.

I don't know where you can get the book now. I got mine in Europe some years ago. It might show up on ebay, watch there.

Here's what it looks like...

There is one more thing that I remembered, that is, Moscow mint is usually responsible for minting MOST of the Russian gold coins since the Soviet era.

and that would be consistent with being a pattern.

Grivna, you wouldn't happen to have any infomation about this in your amazing numismatic literature would you?

Sorry, no. With the exception of Rylov/Sobolin (which is really just a catalog), all of my references deal with the Imperial issues.

I am most familiar with the 18th century stuff and a bit less familiar with the 19th century. I know very little about the Soviet issues and even less about the post-Soviet stuff, so I can't be of much help.

All I can say is that my gut feeling is that it is not a fantasy. I might easily be wrong, but my guess is that it's a real pattern.

 

I remember posting this on the world coin forum (but that was when this forum section didn't exist) and the general opinion might be that it can't possibly be a pattern. The same post was made at a Russian coin forum, and I guess no one knew of it's existance except to declare that it's some sort of fantasy issue.

 

I don't know why it couldn't be a die trial for an unapproved pattern. If it's a fantasy issue, it is of unusually high quality and the apparent rarity of the "coins" argues against being a fantasy, in my opinion.

I might be wrong, but my gut feeling is that these are probably real. If it's a fantasy issue created to make money, then why haven't other examples appeared?

grivna, I would like a better picture of your plate.  If possible, can you make pictures of every stamp separately?  It is very interesting that they are all alligned pretty good.  Also, it is interesting that there is a trace of misstamped stamp at 9 oclock.  Too bad you cannot photograph the back of it.  Very interesting specimen indeed.

The alignment is a function of the die punch array used. Ghosted images of the punches are sometimes seen on the plates. I'm not sure what causes them, but think it might be the result of the array bouncing after striking. See http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/3746/pg0262yy.jpg for a picture of the die punch array used to strike the grivny (courtesy of gx).

The back is nothing exciting, just plain metal. The plates are really a uniface issue.

20 years!

 

And I only collected for 3-4 years

You might be a relatively new collector of Russian coins, gx, but you learn quickly and whatever you might lack in experience, you more than make up in enthusiasm.

Plus, you actually read books to learn about the coins, which is a surprisingly uncommon trait. It never ceases to amaze me how many collectors think that the only things they ever need to read are the latest published bid/ask prices and the assigned grade on a slab.

I have been collecting russian coins for 20 years now.  But,  I lost my first collection in 1994.  Then I was not very active for 3-4 years.  Buying a couple of coins a year.  Now I am back and for about 3 years I am actively collecting again.

 

As for this rouble -- its problem is that it is a common coin.  Yes it is nice, ex. Soderman, but not very exciting.  I myself like copper better.  To find a copper coin in such condition, now that is a real prize.

I thought that you must be a long-time collector. I like the silver coins the best, but collect other metals as well.

This thread is about my favorite coin in my collection (which is a copper coin):

My Favorite Russian coin

That's a choice coin with an excellent strike.

Congratulations!

How long have you been collecting Russian coins?

I find this an appealing and impressive series of coins featuring some of the most significant events of the 20th century. The fact that they are real circulating coins adds to their appeal as historical items.

Very nice!