“Drum” pennies of Peter the Great – a digger's dream (Identification of finds)

A good find is a digger's delight! Especially if the find easily exceeds the price of the metal detector that found the coin. And the treasure of such coins? There’s enough here for a car, a fur coat for my wife, or a trip to the South. Among such coins and pleasant finds are the “Drum” pennies of Peter III, and we’ll talk about them briefly today.

What kind of pennies are called “drum”?

There were 4 denominations of kopecks: one kopeck, two kopecks, four (!!) kopecks and ten kopecks. This is really unusual – four kopecks are very rare in the coin history of Russia! Usually 2, 3 and then 5 kopecks. So you can surprise your friends and acquaintances with this fact.

Peter the Third was a very extraordinary person. A big fan of Prussia and the German order, a fan of playing toy soldiers (in his position!), which was more interesting to him than solving state affairs or, for example, balls. As his wife, the future Great Empress of Russia Catherine II, recalled and talked about him, that “Peter even in the evening and until late at night marched through the halls and rooms of the palace, holding a rifle in his hands and imagining himself as a guard.” Peter the Third’s love for everything military led to the appearance of such unusual coins.

With the coming of each new Tsar (Emperor) to power, coins are replaced in the state, because the coins must be minted with either the initials (monogram) of the ruling person, or the person himself (in full face or profile). But sometimes the ruling person rules for a very short time (months, a couple of years) and such coins rightfully have a certain degree of rarity, which means the price will differ upward. So with the advent of Peter the Third, old coins began to be taken out of circulation, re-minted into new ones, and because of Peter the Third’s love for war, a new coin design received military drums and banners. On all coins, on the obverse of the coin there was a horseman slaying the dragon (St. George), except for 10 kopecks – on it we see the state emblem of the Russian Empire.

Prices for “drum” kopecks start from 1,000 rubles (of course, depending on the condition and type) and sometimes reach 70,000 rubles (of course, in the best condition and especially rare ones).

So search and you will find, friends!

No worries everyone!

We write more about identifying finds here , there are also posts about really rare and expensive coins that can be found in a mine!