OK, so I realize that this may not be a big deal to anyone else, but I wanted to share this anyway. I received my first two Russian coins in the mail today: a 1901 1-kopek coin and a 1914 15-kopek coin. Anyway, here are the photos: So, there they are, for whatever it's worth... :smile BTW, I don't know why the reverse pic of the 15-kopek turned out larger than the others...
I'd like to get someone's opinion of the grade of the 15-kopek coin, if someone wouldn't mind offering their opinion...
The smaller denomination silver coins of Nicolas II coins are still easy to find in UNC condition, i.e. 20, 15, 10 and 5 kopeks. The 5 kopek copper coin can be a challenge but I think it is a good start. Good luck!
My guess for the grade on the 15-kopek was AU-53 or 55. So, I take it that I'm at least close. (Understand, it's been some time since I've done much grading, as I haven't done much collecting in some time, and I have experience with grading Russian coins.) BTW, I just bought a 1731 Denga. Everywhere else I saw any listed, they were selling for around $20 or so. I got this one for $10.
ScottM, if it is possible, can you post a picture of your 1731 denga? Denga from 1730-1735 are known for their overstruck feature and some of them were overstruck on relatively scarce coins. For example: This is overstruck over a 1717 kopek.
The best I can do for now is show the pictures made by the seller. I can upload some picture from my scanner when I receive it if you like, though. I don't think this one is an overstrike, though it does seem to be in fairly good condition. All these that I've seen in photos seem to be quite crude. Is this typical of coins from this era or were Russian coins of the time just crude?
ScottM, as far as I can see, your coin looks to be an overstruck coin as well. The reason why I say this is because if you look at the bottom of the double headed eagle, more precisely at it's feet, you can see some text. This only appeared in early Peter I copper coins and therefore it is an overstruck coin. This is an example of an early Peter I copper coin A lot of the 1730-35 coins were overstruck on early Peter I coins. It's perhaps a bit challenging to find a nice denga from that era. This is the best I have in my collection:
I didn't notice the text underneath the eagle before. I'll definitely post more pictures when I receive it. Maybe somene will be able to tell what coin it wass struck over. Is there a particular reason so many of these were overstruck coins? Since it's so common, I guess it's nothing like a U.S. mint error?
It seems that you have been good and very interesting start with your Russian coin collecting :thumb:
Hopefully I can continue to build on that a little at a time. I may eventually branch out into some Finnish coins issued under the tsars, and didn't I read somewhere that similar coins were produced for Poland?
ScottM, the reason why overstrike occured was because of the devaluation of the copper value back then. Rather than melting down the copper coins that were in circulation and strike new coins, it was much cheaper to overstrike previous coins to a new denomination. While the idea is excellent, it made coins look quite interesting. This overstrike event is NOT an error as this was what it meant to be. Chances are your coin is overstruck on an early Peter I copper coin but I do require more pictures. Most likely not too interesting unless it is overstruck on a 1724 kopek, which is quite scarce.
I received 3 more coins today, so I'm up to 6 now. I'm still waiting on the denga to come in. I will post some moe pics when it comes. Even if it's not struck over the 1724 kopek, I still find it to be pretty cool! :thumb:
Very nice, very nice. Here's some of the nicer examples that I own: This is a dual coinage struck for Russia and Poland. Weighing at a hefty ounce. Quite a nice chunk of silver. You can view the rest of my Russian coin collect here: http://www.omnicoin.com/user_view.aspx?id=gxseries There's too many to list
