Continuing the theme of the “digger’s dream”, I am collecting a whole group of information on especially rare finds and coins that can only be found in our land. If you haven't seen the previous post, it's here:
Rarik: “Frame” penny from 1724 (Identification of finds)
Today we will have a new coin, a new rarik and a “digger’s dream” – the so-called “Cloud” pennies, which were minted during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. In 1755, the production of coins began at three mints that existed at that time in the Russian Empire: at the Moscow, Sestroretsk and Yekaterinburg yards.
What is a coin?
Содержание статьи:
The culprit of this article is the “cloud penny” of 1755
On this coin the image was similar to the silver nickel of that time. On both sides of the coin there is an eagle soaring above a cloud, supported by a crowned cartouche, and in the cartouches on the obverse side there is the monogram of Her Imperial Majesty Elizabeth, and on the reverse side the denomination is indicated.
Coinage
For its minting, as I understand it, Count Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov, Elizabeth Petrovna’s confidant, came up with a small scheme to save a little money from the budget (a sacred matter for the Empress’s confidant and, as Wikipedia says: chamberlain, head of the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs, senator and member of the St. Petersburg Conference). His brother, Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov, was, apparently, the founder of such a reform, and he concluded a contract for minting coins with him, and on more favorable terms for the enterprise of Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov. For the conversion, for example, of a pound of copper in mugs into a new coin, the enterprise received 75 kopecks (! 75 times more than the face value), and for such an undertaking an advance was paid in the amount of 10,000 rubles in silver – quite a large advance for that time.
Since there were no problems with copper in the Russian Empire at that time, most of the coins were minted from copper produced by state-owned factories, but there is a certain percentage of mints from “Cross” five-kopeck coins, which were then withdrawn from circulation. For example, at the Moscow Mint, 80% of the coins issued were re-minted from the five-kopeck “cross” coin. Coins were minted in 8-ruble stacks in the amount of 3.5 million rubles, of which 1 million rubles accounted for the number of minted coins.
“Cloud” penny, reminted from the “cross” five-kopeck coin. Beauty! Two rarities in one. 🙂
Cessation of minting
However, this action did not last long. Due to various internal and external problems, wars, budget deficits and other things, it was decided to carry out a new monetary reform and completely re-mint all the copper that was in use on the territory of the vast Russian Empire. And now the “cloud” pennies have been minted into new coins, which can already be found in large quantities in our land with a metal detector.
Also a beautiful example of a penny
Price
The most pressing question. There are no stable prices on the market; everything changes from year to year, and the price itself depends on the preservation, degree of rarity and appearance of the coin. We can say that the price starts from several thousand rubles and ends at exactly a hundred thousand rubles. Seek and you will find!
Looking for more information on interesting and expensive coins? Or are you trying to identify a find? I collect everything by definition of finds here , if you have anything to add, I will be glad to see your notes, stories and comments!