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My favorite Russian coin


grivna1726

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Thank you, gx.  That is the "die punch array" (used to strike the plates all at once) that I  mentioned in this thread.  These were used for the grivny, which formed the bulk of the production.

 

I don't know if a similar, but larger die punch array was used for the polpoltina, poltina or ruble plates, or whether the stamps were applied individually.  Certainly the larger punch size used to create the higher denominations (especially the ruble plates) would have required greater force to create the plates and, as previously mentioned, the lesser force required for the smaller plates was probably already straining the limits of the available technology at Ekaterinburg.

 

Grivna, I seriously wonder if there were special "die punch array" for the larger denomination. Taking the example of Uze4051-4053, you can see that it is terribly misaligned during it's early trials in 1725 - most definately manually struck.

 

It most certainly does explain the ghosting effect on the plates, as the dies might bounce out from the array and cause it to strike unexpected areas of the plate.

 

While it is definately "practical" for the the use to strike grivnas, I seriously doubt how effective it is to strike larger plates, although it may be possible. One good idea is if we can compare the same plates side by side and to see the alignment, but hey, to find such plates is already a difficult task :lol:

 

Having said that, I remember seeing an original plate in the Hermitage Museum but I don't remember what plate it was :cry:

 

I most certainly wouldn't mind seeing St. Petersburg minting kilo copper plate coins in 2005 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of such plate technology :ninja:

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The 1725 Pattern plates had the stamps made with a screw press.

 

I think the larger denomination plates probably were stamped individually because I doubt that they had sufficient force to to strike them with a punch array like they did with the grivna plates.

 

I think the plate money is the most interesting of all the Russian coins. Unfortunately, it is so difficult to find genuine examples due to its rarity that it is difficult to study it. There isn't much published in English, the best being Randolph Zander's articles.

 

Maybe there is more in the Russian archives and/or numismatic literature that will someday be translated into English.

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