Take a look at these pictures. The last one is what the coins looked like when the loops were removed. There was a time when people had knowledge of these. Let's see how much of that might have been passed down. For starters (until I can think of more), just two questions: 1) Were these basically peasant jewelry? Reason I suspect that is, look at the crude soldering in the 2nd picture. Chances are, these weren't affixed by jewelers, but, more likely, by blacksmiths. 2) Was there a specific period in history when these were affixed? Reason I suspect that is, notice the grooves along the circumference of the loops. These were standardized. That, in turn, would suggest one company made these. Whether or not that company also affixed them, or whether independent blacksmiths did that after-the-fact, is, of course, another question. In my collection, I have these on silver coins ranging from 1809-1855. As the loops were standardized, chances are they were affixed during the period they were manufactured, which, of course, wouldn't necessarily correspond to the years the coins were minted. Thanks!
1809, 1829 (double loops), 1837, & 1855 (removed loops). Don't remember which ones were posted before, but some were. Just asking about the loops, now, so I didn't think to post (or re-post, as the case may be) the entire coin(s). Just can't seem to find any specifics on these outside of the fact of their negative impact on the numismatic value (which is basically a no-brainer)...
The 1809 and 1829 rubles are getting a bit difficult to find. I'm still looking for an example for the 1808-1810 type ruble. As for the loop, I don't think it's specific to Russian coins only. These could have been done any time in the late 1800s to possibly in the middle 1900s or later, when Russian silver coins were relatively "cheap" compared to the crazy prices these days. I don't see how difficult it is to make such loops in the 1990s.
Sure, they could have been done yesterday. But, they weren't. At least, not these. These were passed down through my family. Only problem is, there doesn't appear to be too much memory extant on them. And, most collectors, of course, have a commodity-mindset, and aren't too excited when it comes to questions of this nature. OTOH, history, at least, does have collateral-significance. Just go through your Redbook, and note half of it's on history. Just takes time, though, if you want any answers, and you just have to keep plugging away at it. I'm confident some people out there know these answers, though...just have to find them.
