Rouble 1842

[altyn]

I would very much appreciate hearing the forum members' opinions about this rouble.

 

 

 

I suspect it is fake (fortunately I did not pay too much for it). In most images of similar coins that I have seen the letters of the word MOHETA are rather well aligned but in this one they are not. The letter T, in particular, sticks out rather noticeably. Another case of a similar uneven pattern is a poltina that is currently listed on ebay:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...A:IT&ih=009

 

So, are both of them fake?

[bobh]

I would very much appreciate hearing the forum members' opinions about this rouble.

 

 

 

I suspect it is fake (fortunately I did not pay too much for it). In most images of similar coins that I have seen the letters of the word MOHETA are rather well aligned but in this one they are not. The letter T, in particular, sticks out rather noticeably. Another case of a similar uneven pattern is a poltina that is currently listed on ebay:

 

So, are both of them fake?

I didn't look at the poltina, but there is nothing about the rouble I can see right away which would indicate that it might be fake.

 

In the first half of the 19th century, lettering was punched into the dies in parts and by hand; later on, this changed to more modern techniques (I think about 1844 or thereabout). For example, the letter "A" was done by punching the Cyrillic letter "L" and later the crossbar. There are some rare varieties with misspellings which occur due to this (e.g. "ЗОАОТНИК" instead of "ЗОЛОТНИК").

 

As you can imagine, there is a great deal of positional leeway when letters are punched in by hand. But our main expert on these roubles is R. W . Julian who looks in here on this forum from time to time; maybe he can clarify some of your questions on these coins.

[RW Julian]

I would very much appreciate hearing the forum members' opinions about this rouble.

I suspect it is fake (fortunately I did not pay too much for it). In most images of similar coins that I have seen the letters of the word MOHETA are rather well aligned but in this one they are not. The letter T, in particular, sticks out rather noticeably. Another case of a similar uneven pattern is a poltina that is currently listed on ebay:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...A:IT&ih=009

 

So, are both of them fake?

I see no problem with either piece. Silver coins from St. Petersburg prior to

1845 and Warsaw issues generally are somewhat crude in appearance, often

with die breaks.

 

RWJ

[altyn]

Thank you so much! I after having been "wings down" about this coin I am "wings up"!