IMIS

Don't claim to know the real story behind the coin. My guess is that Russia, like some other countries at that time, experimented with making a cheaper more durable minor to keep up with growing demand for coins. Silver was still in relatively short supply in Russia at that time. A few years earlier Russia exchanged a large quantity of gold coins for silver minors minted in Paris. As to displaying bust of Alexander I on the coin it is likely due to his role in Napoleon's defeat and restoration of European order. In 1870, European order was once again shaken, and the coin displaying Alexander I could have been a gentle message from Alexander II...

Nice frankenstein. Someone had fun.

Very interesting find Sigi! According to catalogues it was not uncommon for Russian mints to issue coins (both copper and silver) with next year's design in current year. Any idea for the cause(s) of that?

Great resource. Many thanks.

Very nicely done Eugene! Is there a complete listing of GM coins in the Smithsonian? Do you have any specifics on the whereabouts of at least some other coins from the collection that did not make it to the museum? Thanks

That's OK. Coin collectors tend to live longer than noncollectors. Medical fact

Compliments on your accomplishment! To me these are some of the most historically significant Russian coins. Just imagine Larga and Kagul in one coin!

gxseries, Sorry to hear about your misadventure. I think this warrants creation of a public list of fake sellers. Had a similar issue a long time ago; ebay was helpful but the seller vanished into thin air.

It seems to me that in recent years many Russian coins that used to be and perhaps still are rare were sold and then resold so many times that they lost their mysterious appeal. Excessive slabbing also contributed to the commodization of coins.

Great coins Keith! I think a lot more people collect talers than one would imagine. I know several outstanding collections, unfortunately few taler collectors write about their collections the way you do. Thumbs up!

I share your sentiment as a collector, better prices and considerably less material. This side of the Atlantic has been depleted of Russian coins. Perhaps they should be treated as protected species. By 'general public' do you mean buyers from Russia?

Been gone from this forum for a couple of years. Recently looked at a few floor auctions and ebay. Looks like the level of activity is way down compared to a few years ago. Hope I am wrong. What do you guys think?

marv and IgorS: Thank you so much for the info.

Was it authentic?

In my experience they have some of the most accurate descriptions in the industry. Unfortunately, they provided only scans of the coins in question.

I think this is another modern phantasy. It would be interesting to hear arguments in favor of the counterstrike dating back to the Napoleonic era. Hopefully someone from the auction house is reading this forum.

While perusing January Heritage catalogue I noticed something I have not seen before: auctioneer added the words "perhaps lightly cleaned in the past" to the description of several coins that had received numeric grades from NGC. Typically, these words are a euphemism for hairlines and are reserved for coins that do not receive a numeric grade. See link below as an example.http://coins.ha.com/itm/russia/world-coins/anna-rouble-1733-au50-ngc-/p/3038-218009.s Wondering, whether this is the case of improper grading, or NGC is beginning to assign numeric grade instead of details grade to cleaned coins.

It is interesting how far from home KM's managed to get. Since we are on the subject, have you seen any research done on dug up coins?

This is a very interesting find. I assume these were the good luck coins, placed in the foundation when the house was built. Where was the house located?

Does not it look clipped though?

Being a fan of Paul's coinage, I like what I am seeing so far. What do you guys think of the 1798 Poltina in MS65?

Thank you for the insights. I was just picking on your definition of real investors. Wondering what these real dealers are thinking: why would anyone want to increase the supply of coins, while the demand for coins across the pond is experiencing a pretty sharp decline?

Looks like a fire sale....The only question is whether it is organized by 'real investors', or amateurs. IgorS, can you tell?

Agree with assessment of AU58 and MS60 coins. My example was purely hypothetical to illustrate why some ex-Sincona coins sell for less in the secondary market. I like high grade coins as well, but I am not sure I would entirely agree with this statement. If you study coin prices for the past five years, you would notice that in gradonomics it is the investor who bought and slabbed a raw coin that made the most money, not the investor who bought an already slabbed coin. If I were an investor, I would buy coins (like any other asset) with intrinsic value greater than the current market prices.

That too. What I would really like to accentuate is that people trust the perceived authority, rather than their own eyes. Say, Sincona (Kuenker, etc.) stated the grade as UNC. 100+ people examined the coin and agreed on the grade. Hence the realized auction price of $2,000 (for example). The lucky new owner sends the coin to NGC/PCGS just to find out that the coin is no longer UNC, but AU58. Now that same 100+ people agree that the price should be $1,000. Why? Just because some expert said it is AU58 and not MS60.