400 YEARS OF RUSSIAN COINS AND CURRENCY
CLICK HERE FOR
COINS OF THE FORMER REPUBLICS
OF THE U.S.S.R.
For hundreds of years much of Russian commerce was based on
these
tiny silver coins called wire money. The coins were struck by
taking a piece of silver wire, cutting it to the proper weight, then
smashing it between a pair of dies by a strong-armed Russian.
As
might be expected, the coins are quite crude and are usually struck
partly off-center. The coin shows a horseman, on
one side
and legends on the other. We
are pleased to offer you this selection of Russian Wire Money which
covers a vast sweep of Russian History.
SILVER WIRE MONEY OF
IVAN THE TERRIBLE 
Ivan
IV, generally known as Ivan the Terrible, was crowned Grand Prince of
Moscow in 1533 at age three. In 1547 he declared himself Czar
of all Russia, and set about centralizing the Russian government and
consolidating his power. The title Czar is based on the ancient Roman
title of Caesar, as he saw Russia as a continuation of the ancient
Roman Empire. He engaged in a reign of terror against anyone
he thought might oppose him, torturing and executing many thousands of
his subjects, including his own son. Entire cities were and regions
were left depopulated. Thus he earned his title "The
Terrible". Though he expanded the Russian Empire eastward
into Siberia, his attempts to expand into the Baltic met with
disastrous defeats. The military, weakened by Ivan's purges,
was defeated by Sweden and Poland. He apparently had quite an
appetite for women, having gone through seven wives and keeping some 50
concubines. Having destroyed the economy of the country and
having killed his most promising heir, Russia fell into "The Time of Troubles" after his
death in 1584. We have offer two silver wire coins of
Ivan. Silver wire coins was made by a strong
armed-Russian smashing a piece of cut silver wire between a set of
dies. As might be expected the coins tend to be a bit crude
and irregular. The silver wire Kopeck was struck in Pskov
after between 1560 and 1584, after Ivan declared himself
Czar. The coin features Ivan on horseback carrying a lance on
one side and legends on the other.
Item
RU-IVAN
IVAN THE TERRIBLE SILVER WIRE KOPECK, PSKOV MINT, 1560-1584 G-VG-crude $8.00
MICHAEL ESTABLISHES
THE ROMANOV DYNASTY 
Following the
death of Ivan the Terrible, Russia fell
into a period
of almost 20 years chaos and civil war. In an effort to bring an end to
the
fighting, in 1613 The Council of All Russia elected the 16 year old
Michael
Fydorovich Romanov as Czar. Though many expected him to fail,
the
young Michael slowly
established
his control over Russia and wisely avoided involvement in the wars of
Europe.
By the time of his death in 1645 he had established the powerful
Romanov
dynasty, which was to last over 300 years, until the Russian Revolution
in
1917.
Item
RU-ROMN
MICHAEL ROMANOV SILVER KOPECK
1613-1645
VG-crude $5.00
LARGE
CZARIST RUSSIAN BANKNOTES
These large, attractive Russian notes were issued during the reign of
the last Czar, Nicholas II. The notes continued to be issued
during the early days of the Russian Revolution with their
original dates. The set of four notes includes the 1 brown
Ruble dated 1898, green 3 Rubles dated 1905, the blue 5 Rubles and the
red 10 Rubles. The 5 and 10 Rubles are vertical notes and are
dated 1909. The notes show the Czarist Russian arms.
Item
PM-RU-SET4 RUSSIA 1, 3, 5 & 10 RUBLE
NOTES,
1898-1909 VG-VF
$12.00
HUGE
CZARIST RUSSIAN BANKNOTES
These two attractive Czarist Russian notes are
huge! The 1912 dated 500 Ruble note is almost 11"
long (280mm). It pictures Peter the Great and a “Mother
Russia”. When it was first issued it could buy a small
house. The 1910 100 Ruble note is over 10” (255mm) long and
pictures Catherine the Great.
Item
PM-RU-SET2 RUSSIA 100 & 500 RUBLES
NOTES,
1910-1912 VG-VF
$22.00
UNUSUAL NOTE OF THE PROVISIONAL
RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT
After
the overthrow of the Czarist government in Russia in February 1917, due
in a large part to Russian losses in World War I, a
Provisional
Government
was established. Alexandr Kerensky became the Prime Minister of the new
government. He had his hands full, with continued fighting
with
Germany,
revolts throughout the country and an empty treasury. To
quickly
provide currency for the ailing economy, plates for consular revenue
stamps
were uses to produce this small ( 50mm x 63mm or
about 2" x
2.5") 20 Ruble note. The note,
released in April 1917, was called "Kerensky Rubles", after the
ill-fated
Prime Minister. The Russian revolution continued to spin out of
control,
and in October the Bolsheviks overthrew the moderate Provisional
Government.
Kerenski escaped to Europe and eventually emigrated to the United
States,
where he became a college professor. These small notes are in
interesting
memento from the short-lived Provisional Russian government.
Item
PM-RU-38 PROVISIONAL RUSSIAN GOVT. 20 RUBLES
NOTE P38 VF $3.00
U.S.S.R. COIN
SET
The seven coins in this set were issued shortly before the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991. The set includes the 1, 2, 3, 5,
10, 15
and 20 Kopecks dating between 1989 and 1991 in Uncirculated
condition. One side of the coin features a hammer and sickle
enveloping the earth. The other side has the date and
denomination. It is an interesting and inexpensive reminder
of
the "evil empire".
Item
RU-USSR7SOVIET
UNION 7 COIN SET 1 - 20
KOPECKS, KM126a-132 UNC.$5.50
BI-METALLIC
RUSSIAN COINS HONOR HISTORICAL
TOWNS
In 2002 Russia began an annual program that each year
commemorates
some of
their historical towns on bi-metallic 10 Ruble coins. The
coins
picture the city and its arms on one side and has the standard Russian
10 Ruble obverse on the other. The 2002 series was the first
in
the series. It honored the towns Kostroma, Starya Russa and
Derbent. The 2003 series consists of 4
coins, commemorating the historic cities of Kasimov,
Dorogobuzh,
Murmom and Pskov. The 2004 series consists of 3 coins and honored the
towns
of Dmitgrov, Kemy and Riyazhsk. The 2005 series honors the
towns
of Mcensk, Kazan, Borovsk and Kaliningrad. The 2006 Series
honored the towns of Torzhok,
Kargopol and Belograd. The 2007 series pictured the towns of Gdov,
Veliky Ustyug and Vologada. The 2008 Historic towns
are Azov, Prioziorsk, Smolensk and Vladimir. The 2009 series
includes the towns of Galich, Kaluga, Veliky Novogorod and Vyborg.
Item
RU-TOWN02 2002 SET
OF 3 RUSSIAN HISTORIC TOWNS 10
RUBLES, UNC.out
Item
RU-TOWN03 2003 SET OF 4 RUSSIAN HISTORIC
TOWNS
10 RUBLES, UNC. $15.00
Item
RU-TOWN04 2004 SET OF 3 RUSSIAN HISTORIC
TOWNS
10 RUBLES, UNC. out
Item
RU-TOWN05 2005 SET OF 4 RUSSIAN HISTORIC
TOWNS
10 RUBLES, UNC. $15.00
Item
RU-TOWN06 2006 SET OF 3 RUSSIAN HISTORIC
TOWNS
10 RUBLES, UNC.$9.00
Item
RU-TOWN07 2007 SET OF 3 RUSSIAN HISTORIC
TOWNS
10 RUBLES, UNC. $9.00
Item
RU-TOWN08 2008 SET OF 4 RUSSIAN HISTORIC
TOWNS
10 RUBLES, UNC. out
Item
RU-TOWN09 2009 SET OF 4 RUSSIAN HISTORIC
TOWNS
10 RUBLES, UNC. $9.50
BI-METALLIC
RUSSIAN
COINS CELEBRATE REGIONS
In 2005 Russia recently started a new series of bi-metallic 10 Ruble
coins
honoring the regions of Russia. In many ways it is similar to
the
very successful State Quarters program of the United States. Each year
various regions will be honored. The coins feature
the regions
arms
on one side and the denomination on the other. The first six
coins, dated 2005, include Leningrad, Tver, Oryol, Krasnodar, Republic
of Tartarstan and Moscow. In 2006 coins were issued
for
the Regions of Chita, Sakhalin, Republic of Sakha
(Yakutia), Republic of Altari and the Maritime
Region.
The 2007 series feature Arkhangelsk Region. Republic of Bashkortostan,
Republic of Khakasia, Lipetsk Region, Novosibirsk Region and Rostov
region. The 2008 regions coins honors Astrakhan Region,
Kabaradan-Balkar Republic, Svedolovsk Region and Udmurt
Region. The 2009 regions coins features
The Republic
of Adygeya, The Jewish Autonomous Region, the Republic of Kalmykiya,
the Kirovsk Region and the Republic of Komi.
Item
RU-REG05
RUSSIA, 2005 SET OF 6 REGIONAL 10
RUBLES, UNC. $24.00
Item
RU-REG06 RUSSIA,
2006 SET OF 5 REGIONAL 10
RUBLES,
UNC.$18.00
Item
RU-REG07 RUSSIA,
2007 SET OF 6 REGIONAL 10
RUBLES,
UNC.out
Item
RU-REG08 RUSSIA,
2008 SET OF 4 REGIONAL 10
RUBLES,
UNC. out
Item
RU-REG09 RUSSIA,
2009 SET OF 5 REGIONAL 10
RUBLES,
UNC.$12.50
ALSO SEE:
COINS OF
THE
FORMER REPUBLICS
OF THE U.S.S.R.
SILVER
COINS FROM THE GRAND DUCHY OF FINLAND
SILVER
COINS FROM FINLAND’S CIVIL WAR
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS FOR THE INTERESTING STUFF CATALOG
INDEX OF
COINS AND BANKNOTES IN THE INTERESTING STUFF CATALOG
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ORDERING INFORMATION
scale with which to judge image sizes
All items are guaranteed to be genuine, unless clearly indicated otherwise.
NOTE: All pictures are of a
typical item taken from
stock. Because we have multiples of most items, the item you
receive
may not look exactly the same, however it will be as described.
Please add postage.
California residents include
8.25% sales tax. 3-week return privileges.
Personal checks, Money Orders, VISA,
MasterCard, Discover, American Express and Paypal
accepted.
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HERE FOR OUR SECURE
ON-LINE CREDIT CARD ORDER PAGE
Joel Anderson
PO Box 365
Grover Beach, CA 93483-0365
USA
Phone 1 805 489 8045 Fax 1 805 299 1818
email: orders@joelscoins.com
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