You've heard all the talk about the new dollar coins being minted to replace the paper Dollar in the USA (as Canada has so successfully done ). You've, also, heard the complaints of a muttering few who pretend to be disgruntled about the weight of the new Dollar coins versus paper currency in pocket or purse. Now I ask you to let the visions in your mind drift back to the Russia of 1758 to 1762 before Catherine the Great set in motion her expansionist machinations and her quest to modernize Russian Society. The coin I want you to know about is the Russian 5 Kopecks. Russian rulers, including Catherine, believed all Russian coins should contain their intrinsic value in whatever metal they are composed of. In the case of the 5 Kopecks coin you are about to see, it is composed of copper. In the late 18th and early 19th Century the 5 Kopecks copper coin was a formidable sum of money. To comply with the minting rules the coin was struck on 42mm (1 3/4") in diameter copper flans (planchets). For your enlightenment here is a photo courtesy of Don's World Coin Gallery: http://worldcoingallery.com/countri...c9 5 Kopeks (1758-1762)&query=Russia 9 kopeks Thought you ought to know... Clinker
Not compared to a 1 foot x 2 feet, ~20 pound 1644/45 Swedish copper "plate" money ten daler of Queen Christina, KM#PM#5, Avesta Mint. (Not illustrated in Krause, so here is a picture from this very interesting site/.)
bobbeth87: Some happenings have already been done years and centuries, don't you agree? Thanks for reading...:high5: Clinker
hontanai: Didn't you read my post on Plate Money, and the post on the huge the huge Wooden Nickel in front of the Wooden Nickel Museun in San Antonio, Texas? And the Million Dollar Gold Coin struck by the Royal Canadian Mint? Clinker
Conder101 I know about the Yap stone money, but they and the other huge coins mentioned by others and me weren't struck as pocket change (as the Russian 5 Kopeks were).... Clinker
Thanks Clinker, as always great info! I sure would hate to carry a bunch of those around, almost.:whistle:
To Conder101: You are so right, and thanks, but it wasn't struck, though, until Catherine the Great ruled Russia. Here's a photo courtesy of coinarchives.com: http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=600810&AucID=437&Lot=722 Clinker
Clinker, there is a wooden nickel museum where I live? HMMM... This is news to me! Back to the thread... I wonder how people lugged these things around in their pockets.. LOL This was an interesting read, and just keep um' coming
To tmoneyeagles Search the Internet for Wooden Nickel Museum. I lived in San Antonio in 1973. Loved the World's Fair, visiting the Alamo Shrine, selling used cars for the Ford Dealer, taking my family for walks along the downtown river walk and fishing in the park stream in SW San Antonio. Never been to the Wooden Nickel Museum. Let me know what it's like if you go there... Clinker
