A Few New Early Soviet Union Coins

[Saor Alba]

1/2 kopek or denga 1925:

 

 

5 Kopeks 1924

 

 

The 5 kopeks is a large bronze coin, and only issued for a short period of time before being downsized into an aluminium bronze coin. In fact the coin has the same dimensions as the AE 5 Kopek issued during the Tsar era.

 

1 Ruble 1924

 

 

Been a while since I have bought anything for my Russia/USSR collection. Now I have to get the reeded examples of the coins, and kopek and 3 kopek denominations to have a complete type set.

[ccg]

Nice 1/2 kop. Never seen one of those before.

 

And the only 5 kopck of the type you have pictured that I've handled was probably poor-1 (Heavily worn with plenty of edge knocks and dings all over the surfac)

[bobh]

Great looking coins! (and pictures, especially of the rouble ... did you use axial lighting?)

[Saor Alba]

Great looking coins! (and pictures, especially of the rouble ... did you use axial lighting?)

 

 

If that is what my old, cheap, and reliable HP scanner does

[grivna1726]

5 Kopeks 1924

 

The 5 kopeks is a large bronze coin, and only issued for a short period of time before being downsized into an aluminium bronze coin. In fact the coin has the same dimensions as the AE 5 Kopek issued during the Tsar era.

I believe that the worker rouble and subsidiary silver coinage of this era were also struck to the old Tsarist standard. I think the gold chervonets was as well. With the chaos in Russia following WWI and the fall of the Tsar, foreign intervention, civil war and the proliferation of inflationary paper money among other economic problems, the Soviet government needed to stabilize the rouble internationally and allow the economy to recover somewhat. So some liberalizations were permitted while the Soviet government consolidated its hold on power, resulting in the short-lived New Economic Policy (NEP). Two steps forward, one step back.

 

 

 

Been a while since I have bought anything for my Russia/USSR collection. Now I have to get the reeded examples of the coins, and kopek and 3 kopek denominations to have a complete type set.

Good luck with these. I think they are the most interesting coins of the Soviet series.

[Saor Alba]

I believe that the worker rouble and subsidiary silver coinage of this era were also struck to the old Tsarist standard. I think the gold chervonets was as well. With the chaos in Russia following WWI and the fall of the Tsar, foreign intervention, civil war and the proliferation of inflationary paper money among other economic problems, the Soviet government needed to stabilize the rouble internationally and allow the economy to recover somewhat. So some liberalizations were permitted while the Soviet government consolidated its hold on power, resulting in the short-lived New Economic Policy (NEP). Two steps forward, one step back.

 

Good luck with these. I think they are the most interesting coins of the Soviet series.

 

A very fascinating era in Russian history too, because Lenin wanted to drive the country forward after the travails of "war communism" but quickly saw that only chaos would have resulted and had to back peddle and implement the NEP - and even allow foreign currency to trade in the USSR.

 

At least with the larger denominations, ie poltina and ruble, and especially 1923 Chervonetz, they did not appear to really circulate much - more like a collateral backing to give some semblance