FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

[templar]

OVER THE WEEKEND I RECEIVED A COIN FROM LITHUANIA.........IT IS A RUSSIAN COIN---QUITE LARGE AND HEAVY---IT IS A 5 KOPEK COIN FROM 1777--WHEN RUSSIA WAS RULED BY CATHERINE THE GREAT---BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE AND WEIGHT, I CAN'T IMAGINE BEING PAID IN THESE COINS---THEY ARE MADE OF COPPER---THIS ONE IS IN VERY GOOD SHAPE FOR ITS AGE---A FEW YEARS LATER--CATHERINE HIRED JOHN PAUL JONES --HERO OF  THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION TO GET RUSSIA'S NAVY IN ORDER--HE DID A VERY GOOD JOB AND SOON RUSSIA GAINED CONTROL OF THE BLACK SEA---HOPE YOU LIKE THE COIN

     YOUR SERVANT--THE TEMPLAR

[templar]

HERE IS THE BACKSIDE TO THE RUSSIAN 5 KOPEK--NOTICE THE WINGS OF THE EAGLE ARE STILL VERY CLEAR...
 THANKS FOR LOOKING---THE TEMPLAR

[ElleKitty]

I love these huge old coppers!  They're so beautiful.   Thanks Templar!

[scottishmoney]

It was minted in Ekaterinburg, a city in the Ural Mtns several hundred kilometres east of Moskva.  They did also mint 5 kopeks in silver, but it was not as popular as the 5 kopeks in copper.  One of the curious effects of the large 5 kopek coin is that the 5 kopek coin was large even in the USSR era, and still is in Ukraine - it is larger coin than even the 50 kopek coin.

[Nighthawk]

Nice coin Joe. Bring it to the club on Tuesday nite and I'll give it a closer inspection!