Bank ruble knight on the throne
In our last article, we talked about an interesting Portuguese Brazilian coin of the late 18th century. Today we will tell you about another interesting coin, sold on Violiti only twice, and the last time for 270,000 hryvnia. This is the bank ruble of Paul I. Paul is the son of Catherine II. Before accession to the throne, he lived in the palace in Gatchina and practically did not participate in the government. The interior of the above palace is shown in Fig. 1.
The interior of the palace in Gatchina.
Paul was a great admirer of Prussia, its state structure and military system. He believed that honesty and knightly principles should prevail in government and in relations between states, as well as in relations between estates. The portrait of Paul I is shown in Figure 2.
Paul I
After accession to the throne, the new emperor tried to implement the above principles (including) in the field of finance. During the reign of Catherine II, a huge amount of paper notes was issued. The value of the ruble in banknotes was no more than 70 kopecks in silver. The new sovereign wanted to redeem banknotes and keep only metal coins in circulation. For this, the head of the Assignation Bank, Vice-Chancellor and personal friend of the Emperor, Alexander Borisovich Kurakіn (Fig. 3), was entrusted with minting coins right on the territory of the bank. For this, new equipment was purchased in England.
Prince A B. Kurakin
The design of the new coin was quite unusual. Contrary to the tradition of the 18th century, the portrait of the monarch was absent on the obverse; it was replaced by a motto taken from the biblical psalms. There was no denomination on the reverse. It was assumed that the rate of the redemption of banknotes would be flexible. The abbreviation BM stands for Bank Coin.
Bank ruble 1796, obverse
Bank ruble 1796, reverse
Bank ruble 1796, herd
Bank ruble 1796
Unfortunately, this noble impulse, like many worthy plans for reform of the new emperor, failed. The issue of banknotes unsecured with precious metal had to be resumed. For collectors of coins of the Russian Empire, Violiti provides an excellent opportunity to purchase a rare specimen in our special section of RI coins.
Collect history with Violiti!
Photo © violity.com
Paul was a great admirer of Prussia, its state structure and military system. He believed that honesty and knightly principles should prevail in government and in relations between states, as well as in relations between estates. The portrait of Paul I is shown in Figure 2.
Photo © violity.com
After accession to the throne, the new emperor tried to implement the above principles (including) in the field of finance. During the reign of Catherine II, a huge amount of paper notes was issued. The value of the ruble in banknotes was no more than 70 kopecks in silver. The new sovereign wanted to redeem banknotes and keep only metal coins in circulation. For this, the head of the Assignation Bank, Vice-Chancellor and personal friend of the Emperor, Alexander Borisovich Kurakіn (Fig. 3), was entrusted with minting coins right on the territory of the bank. For this, new equipment was purchased in England.
Photo © violity.com
The design of the new coin was quite unusual. Contrary to the tradition of the 18th century, the portrait of the monarch was absent on the obverse; it was replaced by a motto taken from the biblical psalms. There was no denomination on the reverse. It was assumed that the rate of the redemption of banknotes would be flexible. The abbreviation BM stands for Bank Coin.
Photo © violity.com
Photo © violity.com
Photo © violity.com
Photo © violity.com
Unfortunately, this noble impulse, like many worthy plans for reform of the new emperor, failed. The issue of banknotes unsecured with precious metal had to be resumed. For collectors of coins of the Russian Empire, Violiti provides an excellent opportunity to purchase a rare specimen in our special section of RI coins.
Collect history with Violiti!
