It's not often I find a coin that stumps me, but ...

By now I feel like I can at least ID the country of every modern coin, but I still found myself stumped by these. The year 2000, hammer and sickle, Cyrillic letters, denomination in kopeks. I figure it has to be a former Soviet republic. Anyone know where these are from?

 

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They are from Transnistria. See http://www.gcoins.net/en/catalog/639

 

Ah, thanks! I would not have ever thought of that.

 

One of those places in the world that is a total throwback to 1950s Soviet Russia, I've been there under somewhat surreptitious means.

BTW they do not have metal coins anymore, their ruble lost a lot of it's value so they now have plastic coins.

 

Have never been there, but I did buy a set of those plastic pieces. No idea whether that stuff actually circulates there, or whether it was primarily made for collectors. Anyway, here is some more info.

Older Kopeck Coins:
http://www.cbpmr.net/content.php?id=23&lang=en
Composite Material Coins:
http://www.cbpmr.net/content.php?id=26&lang=en
Commemorative Coins:
http://www.cbpmr.net/content.php?id=27&lang=en

Initially most or all Transnistrian coins were made by the Warsaw mint, but that changed in 2005 when a new mint was opened in Tiraspol. From what I read, it is operated by Goznak ...

Christian

 

Here's the basics out of Wikipedia (condensed); interesting case:

Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, and also called Transdniester, Trans-Dniestr, Transdniestria, or Pridnestrovie, is a landlocked self-proclaimed state situated between the River Dniester and the border with Ukraine, recognized only by three other non-United Nations (UN) states. The region is considered by the UN to be part of Moldova. The PMR controls a narrow strip of territory to the east of the River Dniester, and also the city of Bender and its surrounding localities on the west bank, in the historical region of Bessarabia.

Unrecognized by any United Nations member state, Transnistria is designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Transnistria autonomous territorial unit with special legal status

After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between Moldova and the breakaway Transnistrian territory escalated into a military conflict that started in March 1992 and was concluded by a ceasefire in July of the same year. As part of that agreement, a three-party (Russia, Moldova, Transnistria) Joint Control Commission supervises the security arrangements in the demilitarised zone, comprising twenty localities on both sides of the river. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved: Transnistria is an unrecognized but de facto independent presidential republic with its own government, parliament, military, police, postal system, currency and license plates. Its authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, national anthem, and coat of arms. It is the only country still using the hammer and sickle on its flag. [more]

 

Thanks for all the info. I have another coin from there that I think was intended for collectors. These are the first ones I've seen that look like they were intended to circulate.

 

My old 38th Edition (2008) Krause shows 7 different coins: 1k, 5k,10k, 50k, 1 ruble, 25 rubles, and 50 rubles, small denoms in aluminum, larger denoms in copper-nickel.

The 50 rubles is priced only in Proof, so it was probably designed for collectors. No mention of plastic coins in 2008.

 

The online version of Numismaster lists 167 coins for Transnistria. Most are gold or silver and probably aimed at collectors. The largest contains 4 oz of gold with a mintage of 20. It does not list any plastic ones.

 

5, 10 and 25 kopeks.

 

Here is a link to the Circulating Coin Sets of the World webpage for Transnistria.
http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/circ_sets/Transnistria.html

 

I love finding new sites to bookmark. Thank you!

 

Here is a link about the plastic coins:

http://news.coinupdate.com/transnistria-to-introduce-plastic-circulation-coins-4441/

Fun fact: NGC will grade these and I have seen sets of 70 graded versions!

 

I went there without authorization, through a border check by appearing to be sleeping and dressing like a local when we drove through the frontier. Basically it was a quick nonstop shortcut because going through there was the only way to get where we wanted to go. Wished I could have taken photos, but didn't want to stand out.

 

Here is what the "plastic "coins look like. I think I paid about $5 for the set.

 

They look like poker chips.

 

They also feel like that. See the second link in post #5 for further info about what is depicted ...

Christian