Soviet Russia-Era Coin Anecdote

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

I don't collect a lot of world coins, but I saw this one on eBay the other day and thought it was a cool piece of Soviet Russian history.

 

 

I have a buddy who was actually born in Russia in the late 1970s, but came to America with his family at an early age in the '80s.

 

I showed this coin to him through instant message and talking back and forth with him I said, "I imagine the working conditions [at the mint] sucked."

 

He responded, "There was vodka and satisfaction from having served the Rodina [Russian for "Motherland']"

 

 

...definitely not enough satisfaction there IMO...probably not enough vodka either.

[JKK]

I have a number of Soviet coins. The ones from the 1920s are rather interesting; after that, they become as predictable as Swiss coins. Kind of cool, though, and I think the basic obverse design was a nice one.

[Brol]

I was actually born in USSR Lithuania (one of the occupied countries). I'm glad that Lithuania now is independent country, in European Union and NATO.

 

That said, I do not buy any russian or ussr coins.

[RWB]

I picked up the early 1920s proof coins long ago because of the interesting designs. The Reaper design looks a lot like one of James Fraser's 1915 coin proposals.

[Mohawk]

First off.....Roger, those 1920's proof issues are awesome!! I'm officially jealous of you now for sure. Next to Mr. Smith Guesser, Soviet coins are pretty cool. I only have one right now, which is a 1988 Proof Restrike of the 1975 Anniversary of World War II Victory Rouble. Here's a pic for anyone interested:

 

https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/CoinView.aspx?sc=413817

 

Sorry about the quality on that one....it was one of the very first coin photos I ever took and is in need of an upgrade.

 

To Brol......sorry about your feelings on Soviet coins. I can understand. While I'm a very international collector, there are a couple of nations that I won't collect from myself. There aren't many, but there are a few. Current Russia under Putin is one of them for me, as well, even though I do like Soviet coins.

 

JKK....which Soviet coins do you have? I'd be interested to know

 

~Tom

[JKK]

As for me, I collect anything without regard to ideology. I respect the decision to do otherwise, but I do not see coin collecting as a statement of belief, at least for me. I would be glad to expand my meager selection of interwar Baltic states coins; I have almost none.

 

On Soviet coins, lemme see what the inventory says:

 

10k 1975 USSR VF

10ko 1961 USSR EF

10ko 1943 USSR VF

10ko 1940 USSR EF

15k 1941 USSR MS

15k 1962 USSR VF

15k 1978 USSR EF

15ko 1956 USSR VF

15ko 1962 USSR EF

1ko 1967 USSR AU

20k 1988 USSR AU

20ko 1933 USSR VF

20ko 1956 USSR AU

20ko 1961 USSR VF

20ko 1961 USSR EF

20ko 1924 USSR VF

2k 1938 USSR F

2ko 1926 USSR EF

3k 1972 USSR VG

3k 1987 USSR EF

50ko 1967 USSR VF

 

Clearly, my consistency of alignment and denomination notation is lamentable. None of them are very spendy, but that's what I've got.

[cladking]

I was lucky and got into the Soviet coins early. I never did find many mint state pre-1963 issues but I could spot a Russian mint set from a mile away and always picked them up and usually pretty cheap. I even corresponded with several collectors in the Moscow Coin Club back in the '80's but found it impossible to trade for Soviet era coins because nobody collected them or had any. They mostly collected the pre-Soviet Russian coinage and a few foreign coins.

 

 

[JKK]

I like pre-Soviet Russian stuff, especially nice silver. I've got one of those enormous hockey pucks they called a 5 kopek piece in the 1790s, barely can fit in a 2x2 saflip, weighs a lot.