RUSSIA. Novodel 5 Rubles, 1777. SP'. Fr-113; Sev-313. Edge-1. Catherine II. Bust right. Reverse: Eagle. Fully lustrous and prooflike. Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $2,500-UP
This coin bears the birth-year date of a future czar, Alexander I. His great titular forebear, Catherine Ist, was 33 years old when she came to the Russian throne in 1762, ruling until 1796. Born a German princess, she emigrated to Russia in 1744, when just 15, to Marry Peter Holstein-Gottorp. The marriage proved less than ideal, and she spent many hours alone, reading French books and learning Russian. She quickly made friends and became popular at Court. There, she became adept at political intrigue while maintaining a demure attitude in public. The portrait of her here is that of a mature woman, obviously done some years after her mid-summer 1762 coup which brought down her husband and made her Empress. In the 1770's, the period represented by this coin, Russia was involved in the First Turkish War and the partition of Poland.
