Hello, Hopefully I can get some answers. I gave up after trying to find out more info about this 1730 Anna ruble - it seems like there are 7 varities of this ruble and their prices vary upon the varities. The thing is that I can't read the Russian material that I am reading so I am hoping someone will be able to translate it... Here is the coin in small format: And here it is in XXL size format: I just did a quick check with eBay links and here are the following: Link 1 Link 2 My coin is around VF to XF with tiny traces of lustre but due to the double strike and overstrike features and countermark on Anna's mouth (it seems someone wanted to make her shut up forever) this coin seems a bit "ugly". But this is what a site had about this ruble: Link: URL Тип 1730 года (Тип 1)Корсаж не параллелен окружности 1730 5 наплечников, фестонов нет 250 << 5 наплечников, крылья с прямыми перьями 1800 << 5 наплечников, на них фестоны 600 << 6 наплечников 800 (Тип 2)Корсаж параллелен окружности << 5 наплечников без фестонов 250 << 5 наплечников с фестонами 200 << 5 наплечников, ухо закрыто волосами 1200 The fact that the price varies this greatly is awfully worrying in some sense... Krause only seem to have listed one variety and that's it. Anyone else has a better clue than I do at the moment?
Based on what I could find by searching auction records there are varieties - but it seems the varieties lie within the date range for the series 1730 - 1740 instead of just for the 1730 date. One of those varieties is the letter B being found on the first sleeve lappet of the 1734 coin, Sev-1182. That one is considered very rare. Another for the 1734 is known as the Lyrical portrait Uzd-714 (RR); Sev-1172 - a 1 yr type, also very rare. I can tell you that yours is not the Uzd-693; Sev-1051 variety, also a 1730 date. All of the coins listed above sold for $400 - $1000 and they were all in the high VF, XF or AU grade with no detracting marks, nor were any of them countermarked. Your coin however seems to have a severe planchet flaw which although technically should not affect the grade, it deffinitely affects the eye appeal and therefore the grade and salability of the coin. Based on records I have found for coins in the VF grades I would imagine this coin might sell for around $275 - $300. However - I have not been able to find and records for this coin with a countermark. That alone may effect the value in either direction. Best I could do in a half hour - I'll keep looking over the next few days and will pass on any additional info I can find.
Hi, I have two comments. One is that the obverse has multiple images, the lettering is very doubled. The second comment is that the color seems weird if that's actually the color of the coin. Is it possible that it is a fake of some sort? Just asking? Here is a scan of a real one.
Possible yes - but I don't think so - it's an overstrike. I don't know that much about Russian coinage, but I do specialize in world coinage, and overstrikes were very common for the time. Russia may be the only country that outdid France when it comes to overstrikes. I don't have the specialty books for Russia that I do for France, Netherlands and Spain. But I once took an interest in Russian coins, just couldn't get myself to expand that much beyond what I already collect. That stuff is pricey !!
Hello GDJMSP and foundinrolls, thank you very much for your inputs. Sorry for the awful image, the image color seemed to be wierd when I did a color scan which I opted to do a black and white scan. Hence that awkard color effect is what you see in the end. Afterall, I did have minor concerns that there might be some lame scammers who want to use my large images... regardless, this is the better image of the color - sorry I don't have a better than than this as I have locked them away far far away from me... Another image is here which I drew in some lines. Red to show the possible overstrike Green to show a countermark Blue to show the double strike As you can see the red line does shows some strange outline. Please note that I have not quite finished the lines as they are a lot finer than I could see with my loop. I honestly have no idea what the most underlying image could be but I believe I can see a sceptor on the right side of the image. It could be an older planchet if not foreign planchets. Both cases have happened before. Although who really knows - it could just be the same coin but accidently flipped over to get struck by the obverse image twice which is what you see currently. Another comment on the reverse side is it is very clear that this coin was struck twice and that is why you can see such doubling around the wing's feathers and legs. However there are still two oddities in the obverse, which is the improper strike of the crown whereas the original strike does feature a full crown. Another point of why two stars appear there is still a mystery (one appears right after the text PYB/\b and the year 1730). That is something I never got to see in any catalogue so far... Overall, this coin is most definately an double strike, as it wouldn't even fit in a 2x2 but in a 2.5x2.5 (if I remember right...). As for the overstrike bit, I guess that is still under investigation... And yes Russia was notorious for it's overstriking as they couldn't be bothered to melt down the old planchets and make new ones.
Sorry for reposting, just found a link of an auction that sold a 1730 ruble. It seems like the prices have gone to some insane levels... http://www.gmcoinart.de/shop/detailansicht.php3?ObID=111200&AuID=57&Suche=&von=279
Doesn't it say 1400 Euros at the bottom? Nevertheless, this is the link of the realized price - pretty shocking... Link
