Rouble 1769

[Andrey5]

I was asked for an opinion on this 1769 Rouble, whether it is a fake or not.

 

http://avscoins.com/r-1769-obv.jpg

 

http://avscoins.com/r-1769-rev.jpg

 

The owner was concerned with the toning, which seems fine to me. According to the owner, the rim looked OK. A couple of dots in Catherine II title are probably weakly struck (between ЕКАТЕРИНА and II, as well as between IСАМОД and ВСЕРОСС). In general the coin did not look suspicious to me. What concerned me though was the weight taken by an exact laboratory instrument as 23.1929 g. A few Catherine II Roubles in my collection all weight 24 g or more. Here are scans and data on my Catherine II Roubles:

 

http://avscoins.com/Collection/showcoin.ph...&id=cRUS-39

 

http://avscoins.com/Collection/showcoin.ph...&id=cRUS-22

 

http://avscoins.com/Collection/showcoin.ph...&id=cRUS-40

 

I would appreciate your advice if a 1769 Rouble in such a condition could weight as little as 23.19

[bobh]

I would appreciate your advice if a 1769 Rouble in such a condition could weight as little as 23.19

V.V. Uzdenikov gives a detailed explanation of weight control as well as many tables for all types of coins including roubles of Catherine II. If you have the second edition, it starts on page 546 (in Russian; English on the next page).

 

According to this, the so-called "remedium" for silver roubles with a normal weight of 24.0 grams was 0.4g. That means that IF they had weighed this coin individually, it would have been too light and possibly rejected. But since there were only spot checks (German: "Stichproben" ) of single gold and silver coins, if the total batch was within the limits and this particular coin was not checked, it would have passed inspection.

 

I'm not sure if that figure of 0.4 g implies a range, i.e. +/- 0.2g, or if 0.4g either more or less was allowed. If the latter, then 23.6 g would have been permissible, even if weighed individually. 23.19 g is very close to this limit, so it probably doesn't mean that the coin is fake.

 

Since I don't know very much about this series, I can't say whether or not there would be other factors which might cast doubt on its authenticity.

[RW Julian]

I was asked for an opinion on this 1769 Rouble, whether it is a fake or not.

 

http://avscoins.com/r-1769-obv.jpg

 

http://avscoins.com/r-1769-rev.jpg

 

The owner was concerned with the toning, which seems fine to me. According to the owner, the rim looked OK. A couple of dots in Catherine II title are probably weakly struck (between ЕКАТЕРИНА and II, as well as between IСАМОД and ВСЕРОСС). In general the coin did not look suspicious to me. What concerned me though was the weight taken by an exact laboratory instrument as 23.1929 g. A few Catherine II Roubles in my collection all weight 24 g or more. Here are scans and data on my Catherine II Roubles:

 

I would appreciate your advice if a 1769 Rouble in such a condition could weight as little as 23.19

Both the bust hub (of Catherine II) and the eagle are normal for this issue. As the 1769 St. Petersburg

rouble is relatively common, and I have seen no counterfeits of this date, I would assume that this coin

is genuine.

 

RWJ

[mummytrol]

I was asked for an opinion on this 1769 Rouble, whether it is a fake or not.

 

http://avscoins.com/r-1769-obv.jpg

 

http://avscoins.com/r-1769-rev.jpg

 

The owner was concerned with the toning, which seems fine to me. According to the owner, the rim looked OK. A couple of dots in Catherine II title are probably weakly struck (between ЕКАТЕРИНА and II, as well as between IСАМОД and ВСЕРОСС). In general the coin did not look suspicious to me. What concerned me though was the weight taken by an exact laboratory instrument as 23.1929 g. A few Catherine II Roubles in my collection all weight 24 g or more. Here are scans and data on my Catherine II Roubles:

 

http://avscoins.com/Collection/showcoin.ph...&id=cRUS-39

 

http://avscoins.com/Collection/showcoin.ph...&id=cRUS-22

 

http://avscoins.com/Collection/showcoin.ph...&id=cRUS-40

 

I would appreciate your advice if a 1769 Rouble in such a condition could weight as little as 23.19

Try how does it ring.

[Andrey5]

Both the bust hub (of Catherine II) and the eagle are normal for this issue. As the 1769 St. Petersburg

rouble is relatively common, and I have seen no counterfeits of this date, I would assume that this coin

is genuine.

 

RWJ

 

Thank you all very much for confirming my initial assessment. Now that I have your valued judgment and also know that 23.1929 g weight is possible for a genuine coin I'll give peace of mind to the owner of this Rouble.