Coins are regular and commemorative – they are also commemorative. Now in Russia there are 8 denominations of regular coins in circulation: 1, 5, 10, 50 kopecks and 1, 2, 5 and 10 rubles. Although a coin of 1 kopeck can only be found at the bank’s cash desk. For example, if you withdraw all the money from the account where 50.03 R was, you will be given 50 R and three 1 kopeck coins.
In 2023, the Central Bank issues coins with a face value of 1 ruble and above. The minting of kopecks was stopped, but they are still legal tender.
Anniversary, or commemorative, coins are minted on the occasion of various historical dates – they are valuable. There are entire series of coins dedicated to a specific event or topic. Some are produced in small print runs, so they are almost impossible to meet in circulation. But most are easy to find.
A variety of commemorative coins – investment. Most of them are made of precious metals: silver, copper or gold. They are not found in circulation, but they can be bought at the bank or from collectors.
What determines the value of a regular coin
The main driver of prices in the coin market is numismatists, that is, coin collectors. It is important for them to have rare coins, so they are willing to pay more than their face value for them.
The value of a coin for a numismatist is formed from two parameters – safety and rarity. With safety, everything is clear: a badly damaged, worn-out coin is of little interest to anyone. Rarity is determined by the mintage of the coin, that is, how difficult it is to get one copy. To assess the rarity of a coin, it is necessary to take into account the year of its issue, the mint and the presence of defects or marriages.
Year of issue
New coins come into circulation every year. On Russian coins, the year is indicated on the front side – the obverse – at the bottom:
The circulation of each denomination is uneven. Sometimes the Central Bank does not mint coins of a certain denomination for several years or mints little. Then they become rare and greatly increase in price. The Central Bank does not publish data on the number of issued regular coins, so it is difficult to obtain reliable information about this.
Mint
Under the right paw of the eagle on ruble coins or under the left hoof of the horse George the Victorious on penny coins there are special marks.There are two mints in our country: the Moscow Mint (marks MMD or M) and St. Petersburg (marks SPMD or SP).
Mint marks can be seen with a magnifying glass or even with the naked eye:
The Moscow and St. Petersburg mints do not produce the same number of coins. Therefore, in some years, coins of Moscow minting will be more rare, in some years – St. Petersburg.
Marriage coins
Sometimes a mint accidentally releases a misspelled coin. For example, without a mint mark, with unmarked elements or with an inverted reverse side. Such coins are rare and expensive.
This ruble has a marriage: a stamp split. It is clearly visible – a strip on a coin:
There are many other types of minting errors: split, die wear, turn, “sticky” and others. There is even a separate direction in collecting coins – errorism, from the word error. Therefore, if you come across some non-standard coin, it is definitely better to postpone it.
Regular coins
Regular coins are those that are not dedicated to any anniversary and look like ordinary coins. Usually they cost at face value, but there are exceptions – seemingly ordinary coins are sometimes very much appreciated and can cost tens of thousands of rubles.
For example, 1, 2, 5 rubles in 2001. These coins are very rare, the price for them is determined by the auction. They will cost at least tens of thousands of rubles. There are also 1, 2, 5 rubles of 2003 – they cost from 10 to 30 thousand rubles. Below I will give a list of which coins can be sold.
You can study the price range for coins on special auction sites, for example, on Fcoins.ru or Conros.ru. The price of coins on these sites is indicative. Numismatists use it simply to understand the trend.
Commemorative coins
Collectors always value commemorative coins above their face value. Their circulation is smaller than that of regular coins, and they are also minted for a specific event or memorable date and then removed from production. In addition, people quite often set aside the coins they like – as a result, previously minted commemorative and commemorative coins gradually disappear, and their collection value grows.
The price of a commemorative coin depends on the series and the degree of rarity of a particular coin. You can also see estimated prices on the Find-coins website.
It is convenient to look at information about which commemorative coins, when and in what quantity, in the database of the Central Bank. They also write what coins they plan to issue.
On January 9, 2023, the Bank of Russia issued new investment coins into circulation: a silver coin with a face value of 3 rubles “George the Victorious” and a gold one with a face value of 10 rubles “Golden Chervonets”.
I will list the most massive series, the coins from which you have probably seen.
