Several paragraphs after some generic information about platina coinage (3 Rouble in Platinum?!?) silver, copper and Paper Roubles, there's this bit. This Russian coin/composition is what? From Excursions in the interior of Russia: including sketches of the ..., Vol. 1 Robert Bremner (1839) p.8 http://books.google.com/books?id=j0oCAAAAYAAJ "The traveller gains in the same proportion on all silver brought from the capital. The only coin we found at a discount is a very handsome new one, nominally worth something more than two roubles, but which, in some remote parts, after leaving Moscow, is under that value, and occasionally will scarcely be taken at all." What coin is that, pray tell? If the confusion is in the Paper Value, "nominally worth something more" should mean stamped 2.5? The Platinum 3-Rouble described to Michael Faraday sounds suspiciously similar: http://noblemetals.blogspot.com/2011/11/russia-1834-iridum.html From The merchant's assistant, or, Merchantile instructer... ; Georg Thomas Flügel, Francis Joseph Grund (Boston, 1834) p.262 "Besides these regular coins there is yet a platinum coin set in circulation, of the size of a French franc, and in value of 2.5 silver rubles; but the taking of such coin in payment is altogether optional." I suppose it's this. What are the alternatives? Thanks!
To me, the first passage appears to refer to the fluctuating value of silver coin in different regions. Ie, a silver rouble may have had the relative purchasing power of 2.5 in some regions. This would cause specie to flow into the region until the value drops and equilibrium is reached. Compare with what happened with US subsidiary silver in Canada and Latin America in the mid 19th century.
There was too much platinum in Russia during the reign of Nicolas I. And our government decided to produce a platinum coins. It was 3 roubles (10.52 g.), 6 roubles (20,71 g.) and 12 roubles (41,41 g.). The first coinage was in 1828 and the last - in 1845. Mintage of 3-roubles coin was rather numerous: for example, mintage of 1844's was 215000 pcs. As for a 6- and 12-roubles coins: mintages weren't numerous.
Pretty sure you mean "3 Roubles" like the photo above. (There was no "4 Rouble" coin. Typo?) Yes, in theory. But no, you're mistaken: there was an agio (premium) on Silver in this period, so 4 or 3.6 assignats were equivalent to 1 Silver Rouble (the analogy would be US Greenbacks in Gold in the lat 1860s.) People wanted Silver, not Paper. I've found no records where "remote parts" refused Silver; in fact, Spanish/Mexican piastres traded extensively in what's now Ukraine, at agio NOT discount. At the time of the Paper Rouble recall/revaluation in 1840, the Dollar was worth 1.33 руб. in Russian Silver. The concern for foreign travelers was - at any arbitrary or capricious forex - their specie would not be fairly exchanged rather than "refused." The Russian coin in question was purportedly refused. As for Silver disappearing, that was Gresham's Law. The City of the Czar: Or, A Visit to St. Petersburg, in the Winter on 1829-30..., Vol. 1 ; Thomas Raikes (1838) : "No money is seen in circulation here, all is paper; blue, red, and white notes, torn and dirty, represent five, ten, and twenty-five roubles, &c. ; they are the only medium of change, which never varies: an attempt to circulate foreign gold coin would be attended with great loss, as you would never obtain its real value. There exists a law to prevent this paper-money from being carried out of the country, and what may appear paradoxical, another to confiscate it if afterwards attempted to be introduced again. The rouble which, in former times, was worth from thirty-six to forty pence English, is now only worth ten-pence in its paper shape. We have seen the time in England when a one-pound note was not intrinsically worth more than fourteen shillings; but here the depreciation, owing to the enormous issues* of paper, is far more serious, the silver rouble being equal to three and a-half or four roubles of the latter.This paper-money has one advantage, that it never varies in value, but the original silver coin fluctuates daily, and is, therefore, almost entirely driven out of circulation in the common purposes of barter.There is little appearance in the shops, and few things are to be bought here, whichmay not be found better and cheaper in otherplaces. Cachemire shawls are very dear,their furs generally exorbitantant, a mere collar of beaver-skin for a great coat will cost two hundred roubles (= £8.33), but the curious in tea may be amply gratified; the greatest variety is brought here overland from China, and is sold at prices unknown with us; the finer sorts will cost from forty, fifty (40-50 руб. = £1.67 - 2.08) to one hundred roubles (= £4.17) per pound (Фунт= 409.52 g), and are a real curiosity." fwiw, English tea sold wholesale in England at a premium 66% - 195% higher than the Hong Kong price in June 1830. A London Tea Dealer quoted a high wholesale price of £0.25/lb. avd., St. Petersburg (overland trade) cost was @ £0.60/lb., ~ twice as high as London's (calculated for Parliament). According to Augustus Bozzi Granville, the best Russian tea sold in St. Petersburg mid-1828 @ 9 руб./lb. avd (£0.376/lb) considerably less than Parliament's reported price. Also, a beaver-collar in Peking cost ~ 260 руб. (200-320 руб.) in 1821; in St. Petersburg (again, 1831) 150-200 руб. I have no idea was this article would have sold for in New York or London in 1830.
I only corrected this, because the "3 рубли на серебро" was valued in PAPER ROUBLES at a fluctuating agio for Platinum against Paper, until 1832/3. In 1828, "3 рубли на серебро" (10.34 g; 0.3324 ozt.) = £0.475 (late 1828 - February 1829: "nearly ten shillings in silver") ~ 11 рубли (Assignat/Paper). The market price for Platinum Roubles fell after the Winter 1830/1831, it appears. Merchant handbooks warned (foreigners) not to take them in exchange ! In Early (April?) 1831, the American minerologist James Dickson of New Brunswick NJ reported on Platinum production to date: "Though many hundred pounds weight of platina are coined monthly, into pieces of 11 and 22 rubles {3- and 6-Rouble Coins} they disappear rapidly from the circulation. They may be met with occasionally, and a few at a time, in the hands of the brokers. I consider their price much above the London price of malleable platina, which is at present about 25 shillings English per ounce : considering that the crude platina is the produce of the country, the Russian price for malleable platina, which is about 28s., is too extravagant; and yet this does not arise from the expense of manufacturing, but from the cost of the material itself, which is far higher than the platina of South America." Dickson also cited the (crude) platina price at "~£ 1.00/ozt" (£ 0.9489/ozt) But by 1832/3 the scrap price in St. Peterburg had fallen to £ 0.3189/ozt. The Silver Rouble was 1: 3.6775 in Paper (3-Roubles in Silver = 11.03 рубли Paper) so intrinsically, the Platinum 3-Rouble (2.41 рубли Paper) = 0.65 рубли Silver. This is significant because it might be THE ONLY TIME (in recorded history) WHEN A PRECIOUS METAL MONEY WAS REJECTED for Fiat Paper, 'more valuable' by preference & generally. A very, very extraordinary situation... and probably only in Russia.
Very interesting. It made me think about how much paper is out there today, while the silver, gold and of course platinum is only sold in coin shops. The precious metals are driven out of circulation and into collectors hands.
Russian platinum coins have an interesting history. There's allegation that platinum coins were restruck during the early Soviet era which were struck specfically for selling overseas. XRF tests have shown different alloys that were used - early era platinum coins show traces of iron, iridium and other metals. Coins that were supposedly restruck have much lower levels of impurities which lead to a supposedly conclusion that as technology back then were not capable of doing so, hence must have been restruck.
gxseries- Close... but no seeegar! (Well maybe some Soviet did, but that's NOT the full story of the fakes.) Heraeus tested their Pt Roubles (acquired in the 1860s Russian govt liquidation) and found "fakes" YES. What you allude to is described here: http://heraeus-ptcomponents.com/med...loads/literatur/7_the_Minting_of_Platinum.pdf The questions are BY WHOM? and WHEN? There were rumors of fake Platinum Roubles as far back as 1829; in 1844, the Russian Foreign Minister who recalled the Pt Roubles insinuated foreigners (the British) were counterfeiting the coins (in the 1830s.) http://noblemetals.blogspot.com/2010/05/russia-rouble-forgeries-may-reveal-mid.html I found this on Numismaster (noting a few errors) and have points of disagreement here also. My critique? We don't know the difference between the Soviet, Novotel and contemporary counterfeits (I'm not sure we can even call them "counterfeits.") But consider the possibilities and opportunity for smuggling/arbitrage circa 1833. Heraeus and other coins recently tested are purportedly OLDER than Novodel replicas. These "fakes" were also struck on SPb Mint dies. So whoever minted these coins had the dies. Who (mis-)managed the Mint in the 1830s? The British. Who got blamed for the counterfeits in the 1830s? The 'hated foriegner.' How was it possible? British merchants monopolized the platina trade with Colombia at this time. 'Juan Blanco' was higher quality, often mixed with Gold. There was no market for this metal but the European, hence Colombian platina was dumped at a pittance when the huge platina fields were discovered in the Ourals (after 1824.) By-the-numbers; 1) In the 1830s, a British merchant could legally buy (S$ 2.0/libra, Spot-Price at Popyan, Choco, etc.) & export 'Juan Blanco' in bulk (10 libras=147.92 ozt) for S$25. (= £ 5.0) 2) Assume a merchant cost/mark-up of 50% (...=£ 7.50) plus the known UK import tariff for platina (...=£ 8.) a likely UK Colombia platina import cost in 1833. 3) Assume the Colombian platina (~75% purity = 110.64 ozt) refined at Wollaston's cost, 2s./ozt (...=£ 19.) a likely cost-basis this refined Pt. &excl. value of slag (PGMs, Au, etc.) 4) How many Platinum Roubles could be coined from 110 ozt pure Pt? At 16.92 g per, 203 6-руб coins, or 1,218 руб. worth £ 0.1717 per руб. (Silver Rouble Rate, against Sterling.) 5) What would the coining cost basis be? Assume 1s. per coin (...=£ 29., to produce 1,218 руб. ) 6) This #/value Pt Rouble coins (rated at the Silver руб.) was then £ 209. Profit was 6x more than the counterfeiting cost-basis, (paying off flunkies, etc. offsets the 30 ozt PGM/Au slag) Was this an incentive?! It certainly was. Was this possible? Absolutely. As example how small the Platinum world was then, it was Percival Norton Johnson (of J-M fame) who showed the Russian Govt how to refined Pt. When he began refining considerable quantities of Brazilian auro-platina in the early 1830s, the European Pd price collapsed ~90%. (He also kept the Pt/Pd slag at no cost but his refining!) So PN Johnson could've literally destroyed the global Pt market at any time. It was widely assumed by everyone that he made a fortune by this trade: so he did. Now consider the alternatives. The suggestion that the Soviets coined for collectors in the 1920s is highly dubious, because numismatic prices in the 1920s were near melt. LOW, LOW PREMIUMS! It's more plausible the Russian Mint produced Novotel coins in the mid-1880s or 1890s, when Pt prices were low, because when PT soared (1890; 1905; 1912, 1917) the numismatic premiums did not. But that theory still doesn't refute all the counterfeiting reports from early 19th C. The earliest coin Pt profit-margins would have been HUGE. In the 1920s, not so much (maybe, none.) And the "purity" of the fakes is overstated; Colombian Pt meets the signature. I suppose there might be counterfeits from several periods but most appear to pre-date the Novodel issues.
