Many beginners in numismatics are somewhat skeptical about mint definition who issued this coin. And let’s say this is wrong for the future collector of rare coins. After all, knowing the mint sometimes helps determine the market value of a rarity that has fallen into your hands. The same denomination, issued by different mints, can vary in price several times.

So how to determine the mint on Russian coins. First you need to know that in modern Russia there are two mints: Moscow and St. Petersburg. And on modern coins their names are minted in the form of monograms: MMD and SPMD. On penny coins, the symbol appears on the reverse in the form of the letters M and S-P. Sometimes some coins do not have the court designation. And as a result of such a marriage, the value of the coin increases significantly. Also, a novice collector should not be alarmed by the fact that the Moscow Mint stamp on the coins looks somewhat larger than the St. Petersburg mint stamp. It is so indeed.

To identify the mint, a numismatist may need a magnifying glass. But if circumstances permit, you can use a camera or scanner. But the last two methods are more suitable for old or worn coins. So a magnifying glass is the main tool of a numismatist.

But even with a magnifying glass it is not always easy to find mint emblems on a coin. Therefore, we immediately suggest that on 10 ruble coins mint mark can be found on the obverse of the coin under its denomination. This is clearly illustrated in the photo below.

And penny coins will delight the collector with the letters M or S-P under the front hooves of the horse.

On coins of the early nineties, mints are indicated on the obverse of the coin in the form of the letters M (Moscow) or L (Leningrad).

Also, the mint can be identified by the edge (edge) of the coin - on MMD coins, the inscriptions have a more rounded shape than on SPMD coins.

For regular coins that are in circulation, the mint emblems are located on the reverse of the coin under the eagle's paw on the right side. The mint monograms are standard, so you can easily distinguish them.

Here. Now you know how to identify the mint on a coin and you will be able to arrange all your coins not only in order, but also differentiate between mints, like a real professional numismatist.

Nowadays, the slogan “Time is money” is becoming more and more relevant. And the period for making this or that decision should be minimal. Buying and selling coins is no exception. There is a way to quickly find out the value of a particular coin if you have a device connected to the Internet at hand.

Perhaps a catalog would be more effective?

Static directories are already a thing of the past. Nowadays, everything is changing so rapidly that print publications and online pages cannot keep up with today's news. Dynamic databases of auction passes come to the fore. Only they will reflect that for some coins, due to the crisis and difficult times, the price did not increase, but decreased. And a great chance opened up to acquire a coin for the collection, the nest of which had remained empty for a long time. Or there was a sharp increase in the cost of coins that you have in reserve. And it's time to sell them.

Dynamic bases are constantly adjusted, taking into account the results of completed trading. Of course, they trust more strongly the databases where the largest number of passes are recorded, taking into account the most recent ones. They reflect the picture of today. At the time of writing, our database contains information on more than twelve and a half million auction passes.

Did you see a coin in a pile of coins that seemed rare to you? Let’s say this is a nickel from 1934, for which the static price tag indicated the value “9000 rubles.” Let's check how to quickly find out its objective price using the capabilities of our service. To do this, on the main page of our website, click on the “Coin Value” position and in the “Find a coin in the catalog” field that appears, enter the name of our coin. The search engine tries to suggest to us certain options from which we choose ours. In this case, it is simply “5 kopecks 1934”, since the patch of Tuva is strikingly different in design, and it is useless to look for remakes in coin heaps.

By clicking on the "Find coins" button, we find ourselves on the catalog page, where a large image of the specimen is posted and a price range is shown depending on the degree of preservation of the coin. An attentive eye will immediately notice that it is unlikely that the price of a “VF” copy can exceed the cost of an “XF”. But this is the principle of dynamic formation of value, which is influenced by many factors. Perhaps the “XF” coins were sold a long time ago or during an unfavorable period of falling demand, and the “VF” copies were put up when these nickels were snapped up like hot cakes. Moreover, the degree of preservation is taken from the auction description, and the seller may consider it several categories higher than it seems to the buyer.

Any user of the catalog can assess the degree of preservation for himself when he goes directly to the list of completed auctions. Information can be sorted by auction date (early/latest), by the degree of preservation indicated in the auction, and by the final price (most expensive/cheapest). A minute analysis will show the real picture of things. And it will immediately become clear at what price that copy that shines so temptingly in the coin pile would have sold for. Using our catalog allows you not to overpay for ordinary coins and be happy when you have the opportunity to get an infrequent coin at a low price. True, here you need to have a good understanding of the topic of USSR counterfeits, but about them on our website.

Express assessment of a coin from a wallet

Those who read the article about rare and expensive coins of modern Russia will not miss the rarity if they got it as change. But suddenly you have a coin in your hands, about which there is not a word in the article? Let's see if our catalog understands the coins of our days? For example, let’s take the most common steel ten from 2010. Here you need to pay attention to which yard issued this coin. For help identifying the logo, see the article on coin marks. Let's assume we got a copy minted by SPMD.

Having reached the catalog page in the same way, we will see a distressing inscription that the cost of the coin is written on it, but going down to the list of auction passages, we will find that there are many auctions, the total amount of which significantly exceeded the face value. Upon analysis, it turns out that coins with a 180-degree rotation, rare specimens, and a rare variety where the lines touch the inner walls of the zero are valued.

Going to the “Description” section, we read the article on how to separate a rare ten from an ordinary one. It remains to be seen whether the coin from our wallet falls into one of these categories. If not, then feel free to release it into circulation.

Express assessment of a coin of Imperial Russia

Another thing is coins from tsarist times. Especially if they are made of gold or silver. Let's check the catalog for knowledge of the prices of chervonets of the last Russian emperor. All found coins can be examined in minute detail. Just click on the obverse or reverse image. A window with an image of a ten will instantly appear on the screen, and the mouse cursor will turn into an additional magnifying glass. Here, not a single scratch and not a single speck on the coin field will escape our gaze.

Advanced Search Features

Having mastered the quick search option, let’s move on to the specialized one. Please pay attention to the big blue button “Search by safety, weaknesses and auctions”. By clicking on it, we will see advanced search functions. By moving the green buttons on the preservation scale, we will exclude from the sample obviously killed specimens and coins of exceptional preservation. Below we see the names of auction houses and online auctions. If we don’t like one of them, we remove the check mark next to his name. If, on the contrary, we need a single auction house, we remove the checkmarks from all of them at once and put only this one. Don't miss the yellow arrow: if the coin is made of gold, silver or platinum, the program will show the dynamic value of the metal weight according to stock quotes on the date of viewing. Let's narrow down the search by ordering only coins in slabs by clicking on the "Lots in slabs" button. Indeed, the selection that appears on the screen shows us coins exclusively in weak form. Let's pay attention to such an interesting parameter as “Barcode”.

By clicking on the link, we find ourselves in a specialized search form, where the barcode that we noted is already present. We press the “Find Lots” button, and the search engine offers us a selection of gold tens whose barcode slightly matches the given one.

Search by auction

A feature that deserves special attention is the search for auctions, which we get to by clicking the main menu item of the same name. Having filled out the search window with the name of the coin we are interested in (for example, we took the 1897 imperial), feel free to click the “Find lots” button, not forgetting to select which auctions we are interested in: active or completed.

Looking at the results, we are amazed at the diversity of auction houses and online auctions included in the sample. But this will not surprise those who are already aware that our project contains the world’s largest database in terms of the number of coin passes. Of course, the above cannot cover all the capabilities of the site’s search engine (especially since it is constantly being supplemented and improved). But even these opportunities are enough so that in front of a kiosk with coins you don’t get lost in painful thoughts “How much will I overpay?”, and after loading the site, you can quickly find out not only the cost of the coin you like, but also where it is more profitable to buy it immediately.

As part of our portal there is a store "Monetnik" (99% of buyers), where you can immediately purchase the coin you like when viewing auctions. If the coin is not currently available in the store, you can pre-order it by clicking the “Notify me when this coin appears in the online store shop.site” button. For the button to be active, you must register on our website. After subscribing, a specialized page will open where you can view the ordered coins or cancel the order by turning off notifications about the appearance of these coins. An authorized user can always find a link to his page with tracked coins when he hovers the mouse cursor over this button.

Authentication

Surely you have heard that the country has been overwhelmed by counterfeits of silver rubles with portraits of emperors and empresses. About some nuances of the definition of “copies” and “replicas”. But you yourself can become an expert if our catalog is at hand. Having called up several photographs on the screen, simply compare the suspicious coin with the originals, comparing small details. To do this, sequentially move the cursor over the coins of interest and use the icon in the form of four squares with the explanatory inscription “Click on the icon to view several photos on one screen.”

Among the coins of modern Russia issued in 1997–2013, numismatists most highly value specimens from small batches, for example, minted during testing of equipment. Usually they are not officially put into circulation, but somehow they still seep into the wallets of citizens. In addition, coin collectors, like philatelists, value defective specimens. If you are lucky and, using our mini-directory, you discover a rarity, either look for buyers of rare coins using an Internet search engine, or put your find up for a numismatic auction. There are also plenty of links to such resources on the Internet.

50 kopecks 2001

Moscow Mint
Price: about 200 thousand rubles.
Only 2 copies are known. Numismatists are confident that no other coins from this batch exist. If you find the third one, consider yourself to have won the jackpot.

1 ruble 2001

Moscow Mint
Price: about 200 thousand rubles.
As in the case of 50 kopecks from 2001, only 2 copies are known, and experts believe that no others exist.

5 kopecks 2002 and 2003

Mint mark missing
Price: up to 300–500 rub.
These defective coins were released into circulation in small quantities due to an oversight. They are missing the mint mark on the obverse. There are few of them, and numismatists love rare series of coins.

5 rubles 1999

Price: about 250 thousand rubles.
The most expensive coin in Russia. There is only 1 authentic copy known. There are rumors that after its minting the form was destroyed, but perhaps this is a lie, and after some time other similar coins will appear on the market.

1 ruble, 2 rubles and 5 rubles 2003

St. Petersburg Mint
Price: up to 15 thousand rubles.
According to one version, these coins were minted for collection sets in 2003 in a limited edition of 15 thousand copies, and then for some reason the sets did not go on sale, and these coins ended up in circulation.

2 rubles 2001

Moscow Mint
Price: about 150 thousand rubles.
Our experts know of one such coin, found in a 2002 collection set. However, there are persistent rumors among Russian numismatists that other two-ruble coins from this batch also came into circulation.

Please note that the value of a coin greatly depends on its condition. The most expensive are the new and shiny ones, the cheapest are the ones that are worn out and run over by a tram. Pay attention to the mint mark on the back (obverse) of the coin - these are letters either under the front leg of the horse of St. George the Victorious, or under the left paw of a double-headed eagle.

The word “coin” was borrowed from the Polish language in the Peter the Great era. The Polish "moneta" is borrowed from the Latin "moneta" - coin, mint, warning. Moneta - epithet of Juno: the oldest mint of Rome was located at the temple of Juno Coins(Iuno Moneta) Moneta is a derivative of the verb moneo, monere “to warn.”

Origin of the coin

Coin form

The main coin shape is a coin circle, but coins can be quadrangular, polygonal, or irregular in shape.

Almost every coin has a front side, or obverse, and a reverse side, or reverse. The exception is single-sided coins, including bracteates (coins made from a thin silver plate from the 12th to 15th centuries). But compared to the huge mass of double-sided coins, there are relatively few of them.

There is no unity in the definition of the concepts of the front and back sides of coins. In old numismatic literature, the obverse side is with the image of the ruler. Nowadays, in practical work, it is customary to consider the obverse side of a coin to be the one that, through its image or legend, determines its nationality. If both the image and the legend indicate this, then when determining the sides, preference is given to the legend.

• Metal mismatch (in foreign metal)
• Minted outside the minted ring (offset image)
• Uncured (without edge)
• Minted with worn stamps (has unminted design elements, stripes caused by cracks in the stamp and other damage)
• Minted with dies from previous years
• Minted with a stamp of a different denomination

Coin safety

To characterize a coin and its collectible value, determining its safety and rarity is essential. The international numismatic market has developed names for the degrees of preservation of coins and their characteristics:

1. "Polished stamp" or "polished plate". This grade includes coins minted with a special stamp with a mirror surface, which must be smoothed all the time during the minting process so as not to lose its quality. Polished plate coins are modern coins intended for collectors. They usually have a mirror-like field surface and a matte, high-relief pattern. Both sides of the coin, as well as the edge, must not have any damage visible to the naked eye or minting defects.
2. "A polished plate with barely noticeable defects." The term is used only in English-language numismatic literature.
3. "Mirror shine" The highest degree of preservation of coins minted with conventional stamps. They have not been in circulation, retain their original shine, and must not have any defects visible to the naked eye.
4. "Uncirculated Coins". Coins that were also not in circulation, but if the 3rd grade coins are the first 100-200 copies minted with a new die, then the 4th grade coins can be minted with older dies. If coins of the 1st and 3rd grades are removed from the stamp one by one, then coins of the 4th grade are removed automatically and, when counted, packaged and stored in bags, receive defects from contact with other coins that are invisible to the naked eye.
5. "Great". There should be no signs of wear visible to the naked eye, although the coins have been in circulation. The surface of the coins is clean, the original shine is retained in the recesses. Only minor defects arising during the minting process, during transportation or during circulation are allowed. Coins of this state of preservation are close to coins of the previous state. The highest degree of safety for ancient and medieval coins.
6. "Perfect". All details of the design are clearly visible, the legends are readable without difficulty, only the most prominent parts show slight signs of wear. There may be small scratches and gouges on the sides of the coin, as well as on the edge. In fact, the lowest degree of preservation is for coins of modern times.
7. "Wonderful". The coin shows significant wear, with details blurred but discernible. The legend is legible, although the letters may be smoothed out. Antique and medieval coins of such preservation are included in the collection unconditionally, coins of modern times - subject to their rarity, the newest - are rejected.
8. "Very good". Coins that have been in circulation for a long time and are very worn. There are scratches, gouges and other defects on the sides of the coin, as well as on the edge. The legends are still readable, but already partially erased. Mint marks are difficult to distinguish. Suitable for collections of ancient and medieval coins, and also important if these are rare coins.
9. "Fine". Coins of this state of preservation are very worn. Only the outlines of the image are visible. Legends are hard to read, dates are difficult to read. In a museum collection, defects have significance as historical and numismatic monuments if they are of interest in this regard.

In German and English (rarely in French) numismatic literature there are three more degrees of preservation of coins (coins of this quality are not supplied to numismatic stores and auctions, with very rare exceptions).

1. "Poorly preserved." The images are only partially preserved, the legends are difficult to read; scratches, gouges. Such coins may still have scientific, but not collection, value.
2. "Poorly preserved."
3. "Very poorly preserved." There are almost no images preserved on coins of this state of preservation; the legends are only partially readable. Coins in very poor condition may also have mechanical damage (holes, cuts), metal peeling, etching marks, etc. Even rare coins in poor and very poor condition are very cheap.

It should be understood that the “polished plate” is not in the true sense a degree of preservation, it is a production technology. Therefore, a polished plate with serious defects that do not allow it to be classified as a “polished plate with barely noticeable defects” does not go into the “mirror gloss” category.

Canadian One Million Dollar Gold Coin

The most unusual coins of the world

The heaviest and largest in face value

The heaviest coin to date is the Million Dollar Gold Coin, produced by the Perth Mint in Australia. The 1000-kilogram coin, made of 999.9 fine gold, has a diameter of 80 cm and a thickness of 12 cm. Before it, the heaviest were the Canadian coin with a face value of 1 million dollars, weighing 100 kg, and the Austrian coin with a face value of 100 thousand euros, weighing 31.1 kg.

The most beautiful

The 2005 Mexican silver coin with images of the coat of arms of Mexico and the Aztec calendar was recognized as the most beautiful in the world. The decision was made by members of the World Mint Conference in South Korea in May 2008.

Russian Empire, USSR and Russian Federation

The country's largest coin in terms of purchasing power

• Commemorative coin with a face value of 50,000 rubles of the Russian Federation weighing five kilograms of pure gold - the 150th anniversary of the Bank of Russia, issued by the Bank of Russia on February 1, 2010 in a circulation of 50 copies. This coin is legal tender throughout the Russian Federation and must be accepted for payment at a face value of 50,000 rubles. The real value of this coin is orders of magnitude higher than the nominal value.

Before this, the largest was a three-kilogram commemorative coin with a face value of 25,000 rubles of the Russian Federation made of pure gold - the 190th anniversary of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Goznak, released into circulation by the Bank of Russia on August 11, 2008 in a circulation of 50 copies.

Interesting fact: you can pay with a coin weighing five kg of gold in any store - for example, buy a gold chain weighing 50-60 g.

The largest coin in terms of denomination

The largest coins in terms of face value of both the Russian Empire and the USSR and the Russian Federation of mass production (not investment) are the bimetallic one hundred rubles of the Russian Federation of 1992 and the copper-nickel one hundred rubles of the Russian Federation of 1993.

The smallest coin in the country

The heaviest coins in the country

• Russian Empire: square copper plate 1 ruble of Catherine I with round seals - the coats of arms of Russia on four edges and with the denomination in the center. The inscription in the center in a circle: Price ruble. Ekaterinburg. 1725. The weight of the coin is slightly more than 1.6 kg. Ten coins weighed exactly a pound. Size 18x18 cm, thickness 5 mm. The coin was issued in 1725-1726 and is now extremely rare (its collectible value back in the 1960s exceeded two thousand rubles).
• Modern Russia: On November 22, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative coin made of 900-carat silver “275th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Mint”, with a total circulation of 150 pieces, a denomination of 200 rubles and a weight of 3342 grams. It took 3 kilograms of pure silver to produce one coin. Afterwards, two more similar coins were issued (with a total circulation of 500 pieces): 300 coins made of 900-carat silver and 200 coins from 925-carat silver.

The heaviest nickel

see also

Notes

Links

• Information numismatic catalogue. Everything about euro coins (including gold and silver)
• Rare coins of the Northern Black Sea region from the collection of the Odessa Museum of Numismatics
• Monetary system, gold, silver and coins in Rus' and Europe in the 15th-16th centuries. and after
• Catalog of coins of modern Russia (from 1992 to the present day)
• Popular coin collections Coins of interest to Russian numismatists.

Sources

• Potin V. M. Coins. Treasures. Collections: Essays on Numismatics. - St. Petersburg: Art-SPB, 1992.
• Numismatist's Dictionary: Trans. with him. / H. Fengler, G. Girow, V. Unger/ 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M.: Radio and communication, 1993
• Karyshkovsky, Pyotr Osipovich. Coins of Olbia. Kyiv, 1988. ISBN 5-12-000104-1.

If a coin collector finds himself in front of a coin unknown to him, the first thing he does is examine it. Numismatic examination of a coin involves finding out where and when it was minted, at which mint, its denomination, and, if possible, which craftsman made it. To determine all this data, various methods are used, suggesting how to identify a coin.

Definition of a coin

The easiest way to identify a coin is to search for its image or description in the literature. It can be very difficult for inexperienced numismatists to do this; they can spend a lot of time searching without getting anything. If a coin is difficult to identify, then it will be difficult for experienced numismatists.

To limit your search, you need to determine the weight, metal and size of the coin you receive. For example, if a coin is made of gold and its weight is about 3.5 g, then it is most likely a ducat or florin minted no earlier than the mid-13th century. The silver coins, weighing about 4 grams, are pennies that were minted during the same period. Thus, knowing the size, weight and metal of the coin, you can significantly narrow your search and limit it to a few books.

It is also important to pay attention to the features of the coinage. For example, bracteates are single-sided coins that were minted only during a certain period and in certain countries.

Mint

It is important for novice numismatists to understand how to identify the mint of a coin to speed up the process of identifying it. First, you need to find the minting date on the coin, as this will help narrow down the range of mints that operated during that period. Usually near the date or under the denomination of the coin, less often - on the other side of the coin you can see the emblem of the mint or the initials of the master, if it is old enough.

If there is no date, no emblem, or initials of the master on the coin, it is very difficult to determine the mint without sufficient experience in numismatics.

Authenticity of the coin

An equally important question is how to determine the authenticity of a coin.

• Since minting coins is quite difficult, counterfeiters usually do not have this technology. They make coins by simply casting metal, so the fine details of the coinage are usually not very clear. Blurring of small details is the first sign of a counterfeit coin.
• Coins of the 18th century are characterized by metal lamination due to corrosion. It is almost impossible to counterfeit, so a coin of this age without signs of foliation should arouse suspicion.
• An equally important criterion for authenticity is the weight of the coin.

To more accurately determine the authenticity of a coin, it is best to contact professionals, as they have special equipment that allows them to find out the necessary details.

Coin value

Every numismatist wants to know how to determine the value of a coin. The easiest way to do this is to search for the coin in the appropriate numismatist catalogs. There is an approximate price for each type of coin. You need to understand that the price will be influenced by the safety of the coin: the better it is, the higher the price.

The market price usually differs significantly from the list price as it is affected by demand, precious metal prices, coin quality, and much more. You can most accurately determine the price of a coin if you find an absolutely similar one that was sold and find out its price.