Five rubles of Nicholas I

Despite the absence on the coin at that time of the designation " semi-imperial ", which appeared only under Nicholas II, this name was assigned to it from the very beginning of minting five-ruble gold coins in 1755 and was associated with the content of a certain amount of gold in the coin. In the future, both in the imperial decrees and in scientific numismatic literature ^{[2] there is} repeatedly found such designation of a gold coin in denominations of five rubles, which was in circulation throughout the 19th century.

In connection with the presence of Poland in the Russian Empire, the Warsaw Mint from 1816 to 1864 minted gold, silver and copper coins of all denominations for Poland , part of the coins with double Russian-Polish denomination and part of gold, silver and copper coins of national circulation. ^[3] Among them is the given gold coin, which was minted in Warsaw in a small amount in 1842, 1846, 1848 and 1849.

Obverse

First Type

On the front side is a double-headed eagle with wings down. On the chest of the eagle is a shield supporting the imperial crown over the heads of the eagle. The Moscow coat of arms is on the shield: in the scarlet field, St. George the Victorious is depicted on a horse turned left, armed and without a mantle , striking with a spear of a winged dragon . In the claws of the eagle's right paw there is a torch burning on both sides, a double perun with four arrows and part of a fluttering ribbon. In the claws of the left paw is another part of the ribbon and a laurel wreath . Under the eagle are two letters - the initials of the Mitzmeister . Above it is the inscription: “FIVE RUBLES.”. Below is the year of minting with the inscription - “YEARS.”. Around the bead rim. ^[5]

Second Type

On the obverse is a double-headed eagle with two imperial crowns on its heads and a third larger one above them. The imperial scepter is located in the claws of the eagle's right paw, and the power is in the claws of the left. On the chest of the eagle is the Moscow coat of arms : in the red shield depicts St. George the Victorious on a horse turned to the left, armed and without a mantle , striking with a spear of a winged dragon . Around the shield is the chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called . Each wing of the eagle has three shields with emblems. On the right are the coats of arms of the Kazan , Astrakhan and Siberian kingdoms . On the left are the coats of arms of the Polish and Chersonis of the Tauride kingdoms, as well as the Grand Duchy of Finland . Under the eagle are two letters - the initials of the Mitzmeister. Around is a toothed rim. ^[6]

Reverse

First Type

On the reverse side there is an inscription: “CLEAN | GOLD | 1 GOLD = | 39 SHARES | —— | S.P.B. ". Above the inscription is the imperial crown . Around are laurel and oak branches , connected at the bottom by a ribbon. Around the bead rim. ^[5]

Second Type

On the reverse side inside the bead circle there is an inscription: “• 5 • | RUBLES | —— | ". Under it in two lines is the designation of the year and place of coinage. Outside the bead mug there is a circular inscription: “ PURE GOLD 1 ZOLOTNIK 39 SHARES •”. Around is a toothed rim. ^[7]

Edge

All coins in this series have dashed edge No. 2 (according to Gil ) with an inclination to the left. ^{[8] [9]} Vasily Uzdenikov designates it as the second variety of a simple dotted edge. ^[10]

Coins of all varieties of this series have similar characteristics. They are made of 88 gold (0.917). They have a weight of 6.54 grams, of which 6.00 grams of pure gold . The diameter of the coins is 22.6 mm. ^[8] (22.8 mm. ^[11] ), the thickness is 1.2 mm. ^[eleven]

The weight characteristic of the coins and the alloy test was the basis that determined the state profit rate from the operation of the coin regalia . That is why the weight of coins and a sample of an alloy of precious metals was established by special government decisions and their implementation in mints was strictly controlled. These decisions established not only the normative weight of the coin, but also necessarily stipulated the size of the weight tolerance - remedium , within which the mint could allow deviation from the normative weight. This remedium was different for different coins and at different times. For gold 5-ruble coins in the middle of the 19th century, it amounted to 0.04 grams for a separately weighed coin of 6.54 grams, and for 62 coins weighed together - 0.53 grams. ^[12]

Despite the constant technical improvement of the method of coinage, nevertheless, according to Jacob Reichel , its imperfection was the main reason for the numerous varieties of coins of this era. ^[13] So, according to the catalog of Vladimir Bitkin, the second type of this group of coins has many varieties. The main differences relate to the appearance of the eagle on the obverse, the quality of the coinage, the absence of a mint designation or the Mintsmeister’s initials. An additional element in this series of coins increasing their variety, in addition to the year of minting, is the designation of the initials of a particular mintmeister and the indication of the mint on which a particular coin was minted. For the entire time the gold coins of this denomination were made during the reign of Nicholas I at the St. Petersburg Mint , the following mint masters were:

Major Varieties

Graduation of the St. Petersburg Mint

First Type

The eagle of the sample of 1817 (the same as on the five rubles of Alexander I ). ^[14] Minted in Petersburg in 1826 - 1832. On all coins are the initials of the Mintzmeiter Pavel Danilov: “P” and “D”.

Second Type

1. 1.A ^{[K. 2]} - the eagle of the sample 1832 - 1842. It was minted in 1832 - 1842. On all the coins are the initials of Mintzmeiter Pavel Danilov: “P” and “D”, except for the last four years. On the coins from 1839 to 1842 are the initials of Mintzmeister Aleksey Chadov: “A” and “Ch”. ^[8]
2. 1.A.a - the coin is similar in everything to the subtype 1.A, but without the Mitzmeister’s initials. It was minted in 1835. ^[8]
3. 1. 1 .A - a coin in all respects similar to the subtype 1.A, but without a mint designation. It was minted in 1835. ^[8]
4. 1.B - the eagle of the sample 1832 - 1842. The reverse of the convex embossing is more rough work. ^[15] Minted in 1842 - 1843. On all coins are the initials of the Mintzmeiter Aleksey Chadov: “A” and “Ch”. ^[16]
5. 1.B.a - the coin is similar in everything to the subtype 1.B, but has the reverse of more thorough work with a flat coinage as in 1844 - 1858. The numbers of the year and the designation of the mint are smaller. ^[15] Minted in 1843. ^[16]
6. 2.Ba. — an eagle of the sample 1843 - 1844. It was minted in 1843 with the initials of the Mitzmaster “A” and “Ch” and in 1844 with the initials “K” and “B”. ^[16]
7. 3.Ba. — an eagle of the sample of 1845. It was minted in 1844 with the initials of the Mitzmeister “K” and “B” and from 1845 to 1846 with the initials “A” and “G”. ^[16]
8. 4.Ba. — an eagle of the sample 1847 - 1849. It was minted in 1846 with the initials of the Mitzmaster “A” and “G”. ^[16]
9. 4.B - the coin is similar in everything to the subtype 4.B.a, but has a different reverse. It was minted from 1847 to 1850. ^[16]
10. 5.B - a coin in all respects similar to subtype 4.B, but has an eagle of the sample of 1851 - 1858. It was minted from 1850 to 1855. ^[16]

Graduation of the Warsaw Mint

Coins issued in Warsaw are similar in appearance to the second type, but differ in the absence of mint marks on the reverse, as was the case on most coins in the series. However, they are placed on the obverse instead of the Mintsmeister’s initials: “M” and “W”, which means “Mennica Warszawska” - the Warsaw Courtyard. ^{[17] [18]}

Years of minting , rarity, circulation and features of coins of this series can be seen in the table below:

Museums

Some coins of this series can be seen in the museum of the International Numismatic Club in Moscow .

Comments

Sources

• Bitkin V.V. Part II (1740-1917) // Consolidated catalog of Russian coins. - K .: Juno-Coin, 2003 .-- 520 p. - ISBN 966-9551-3-9.
• Bitkin V.V. Consolidated catalog of coins of imperial Russia regular minting. - K .: Juno-Coin, 2000 .-- 624 p. - ISBN 966-95501-4-9 .
• Grand Duke George Mikhailovich . Coins of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. - St. Petersburg. : Printing house of the Ministry of Railways, 1890.
• Gil H.H. , Ilyin A.A. Russian coins minted from 1801 to 1904 - St. Petersburg. : Cartographic institution of A. Ilyin, 1904. - 152 p.
• Gold coins in the history of the Romanov dynasty. Exhibition catalog. International Numismatic Club. - M .: Lingua-F, 2017 .-- 432 p. - ISBN 978-5-91477-038-6 .
• Petrov V.I. A practical guide for coin collectors. Russian, Specific, Princely, Tsarist and Imperial, minted from 980 to 1900, as well as coins minted for Poland, Georgia and Finland. Gold, Platinum, Silver and Copper. With drawings. - M .: Numismatic store V.I. Petrova in Moscow, 1900 .-- 149 p.
• Severin G.M. Gold and platinum coins of the Russian Empire 1701-1911. - M .: Profizdat. - 95 p.
• Spassky I.G. Russian monetary system. Historical-numismatic essay . - 3rd ed. - L .: Publishing House of the State Hermitage Museum , 1962. - 224 p.
• Uzdenikov V.V. Coins of Russia. 1700-1917 / ed. V. Yanina . - M .: Collector's Book, 2004 .-- 500 p. - ISBN 1-932525-20-3 .
• Uzdenikov V.V. Coins of Russia XVIII - early XX century. Essays on numismatics. Facts, assumptions, recommendations. - M .: Circle of collectors, 2004. - 590 p.
• Chizhov S.I. Description of the options for some types of Russian coins of the last two centuries. - M .: Printing house and Slovolitnya O.O. Herbek, 1904. - 109 p.

• Numismatic Dictionary / [Author: Zvarich V.V. ]. - 4th ed. / Publ. Dictionary of numismatists. Description of coins . - Lviv, 1980. - ISBN 5-256-00317-8 .
• Dictionary of numismatists / [Authors: Fengler H., Girow G., Unger V.] / Per. with him. M. G. Arsenyeva / Resp. ed. V.M. Potin. - 2nd ed., Revised. and add. / Publ. Dictionary of numismatists. Description of coins . - M .: Radio and communications, 1993. - ISBN 5-256-00317-8 .

• Semi-imperial
• Gold coins of Russia