Picked this one up for melt with other purchases. I have been looking at in his case for years. Tebow coin Boulder CO. He is in the CT directory.
Shippensburg Coin Club 1974, (Ed Walters and his vegetable wagon theme) Antiqued Bronze, 15.58 grams, 34mm, M/A < >. It's hard to imagine a vegetable merchant wearing a suit and tie. But herrrres Ed: https://m.facebook.com/groups/405037194947887/posts/694888915962712/
An engraver's plaster cast with the design for a pattern for the £1 coin introduced in 1983. Although unattributed, it will be by Eric Sewell who engraved the adopted design given the use of identical elements in both designs. This is the design that will be reduced to produce the die. 175mm diameter, 17mm thick and weighs 547g.
That, my friend, is a . . . . 2019 Smithsonian 10 Gram Silver Russian Beard Token https://www.govmint.com/2019-smithsonian-10-gram-silver-russian-beard-token-antiqued-bu It is a close reproduction of an 18th Century Russian "Beard Tax" token, struck by the Shire Post Mint for the Smithsonian to sell as "souvenirs." Only 5,000 struck in silver, 15,000 in copper. TokenCatalog listed as TC-611480. http://tokencatalog.com/token_recor...480&inventory_id=724119&attribution_id=635882 Z
So, they taxed you because you weren't patronizing the vendors that they were making money from. Pay that man to shave your beard. Or, buy this shave kit for 2 Rubles.
More along the lines of Peter the Great, who saw what he believed were "more culturally advanced societies" in Europe with mostly clean shaven men, and wanted his society to adopt this look to equalize their trading status. Russia in the early 1700's I guess was pretty "wild, wild, west." Z "Russia in the early 18th-century was a land of rapid and drastic change. It was on this stage that Peter the Great implemented his beard tax of 1705. Meant to force Russian men to shave their beards like the "modern" men of Western Europe, the tax was placed on any man who chose to keep their face unshaved. Those with the means and motivation to pay the tax were given a beard token just like this, to show city guards they had paid the tax and were free to display their majestic beards. Both of the designs on this token are taken from the original beard tokens. On the obverse is a bearded face under a Cyrillic inscription which means, "Money taken." This refers to the tax that the holder had paid. A leafy wreath along the rim encircles the words and the design. The inscription for the year 2019 dominates the reverse. A Russian Imperial Eagle is included above this inscription, while a Smithsonian Sun counterstamp is included below it. That counter stamp takes the place of contemporary counter stamps that would have indicated a second or third year of tax had been paid on the originals. This face also has a wreath on the rim."