The June 4, 2000, Dr. Jon Kardatzke Collection Parts II & III, Sale 5

Russia

Nicholas I (1825-1855)

Lot 5675
RUSSIA. 5 Kopecks, 1854-HI. SP'. Sev-3614; Cr-163. Silver. Nicholas I. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Alexander II (1855-1881)

 Sweeping changes in the fabric and indeed the outlook of the Russian people forced themselves on the son of the man who lost the Crimea. Although more a bureaucrat than a leader, with no outstanding talents, Alexander II saw more reform during his rule than had any czar since Peter the Great. His immediate reaction to his father's prohibitions was to loosen most and reverse the most stringent. He opened the universities to all and allowed his subjects to travel abroad again. But the great challenge was the emancipation of Russia's 52 million serfs and state peasants. They were, for all intents and purposes, the equivalent of America's black slaves. Giving them freedom was the pressing issue of the 1850s. Serf labor had been the financial backbone of Russia for centuries, but that had gradually changed with the evolution of the new "money economy" based on bigger and broader markets for Russian goods (the rise of the middle class and its preoccupation with business). Following years of committeed discussions about how to compensate landed gentry for loss of their labor, human bondage ended in Russia in February 1861 when the Emperor signed the manifesto freeing them in return for a complicated system of freed-serf payments to buy the land formerly owned by their masters. The landed gentry's fortunes declined over the coming decades, which set them as a class against the Emperor. Ironically, too, the serfs turned against the monarchy which had set them free, for without masters they struggled to survive-and their anger, despair and misery set the stage for final, devastating revolution. The Emperor was the direct cause of many beneficial advances. In 1864, the legal system enjoyed a sweeping reform that introduced the principle of equality before the law, separated the courts from the governmental bureaucracy, and changed the judicial experience from a secret routine of rules to an openly public, oral procedural system not unlike America's. This reform virtually created the new class of lawyers, and curiously brought about an unintended threat to the monarchy-the new social thinkers, called the "Intelligentsia," would contribute mightily to the final chapter of imperial rule in Russia. While the 1860s were one of the most unsettling decades in modern history-disturbances in the centers of learning, including an attempt on the Czar's life in 1866 by a deranged student, peasant revolts throughout the countryside, and intellectual unrest everywhere-reforms continued, not so much at the Emperor's prompting but rather by the force of social change. In fact, the greatest came in 1874, when the obligation of military service to the state was reduced from 25 to six years and the burden put on all Russian men, not just the lower classes. A successful war with Turkey begun in 1877 brought more Balkan land into the Russian geography, and all during the third quarter of the century more and more of central Asia became Russian. In fact, the decision to dominate in Asia and in Siberia was possibly the main reason that Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867-to use the funds to concentrate efforts there. The changes that Russia needed and that Czar Alexander II recognized and permitted, however, included one which the Emperor had not foreseen-an intellectual dissatisfaction with the concept of imperial rule. The revolutionary propaganda and intellectual circles of the 1860s and 1870s bred a new kind of Russian, the fearsome terrorist. In 1879, a small group of these rebels (only about thirty in number) named themselves the "Will of the People" and made one attack after another on the Emperor. Through sheer luck, he escaped time and again, until a bomb caught up with him on March 13, 1881-the very day he had put his signature to a document that would have peacefully created Russian representative government. The Imperial family had gradually allowed ordinary men into the governing process. The force of their growing needs made them insistent upon an ever greater role. The next two Czars would attempt to restore the old order, but it was too late-the die was cast.

Lot 5676
RUSSIA. Ruble, 1855-HI. SP'. Dav-283; Sev-3638. Alexander II. Light hairlines beneath bright bluish gold iridescent toning., the center of the reverse mostly a silvery white. NGC graded Proof 61.
Estimated Value $1,250-UP.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1121.

Lot 5677
RUSSIA. Poltina (½ Ruble), 1855. HI-SP'. Sev-3637; H-399. Alexander II. Silvery gold iridescent toning. NGC graded Proof 63.
Estimated Value $250-350.

Lot 5678
RUSSIA. 25 Kopecks, 1855. HI-SP'. Sev-3636; H-396. Alexander II. Handsome lilac gray and silvery gold iridescent toning. NGC graded Proof 64.
Estimated Value $200-300.

Lot 5679
RUSSIA. 10 Kopecks, 1855-HI. Sev-3633; Y-14.1. Alexander II. Prooflike. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Lot 5680
RUSSIA. 10 Kopecks, 1855-HI. Sev-3633; Y-14.1. Alexander II. Prooflike. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Lot 5681
RUSSIA. 5 Kopecks, 1855-HI. Sev-3632; Y-13. Silver. Alexander II. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Lot 5682
RUSSIA. Poltina, 1856. F'-SP'. Sev-3643; Y-17. Alexander II. Beautifully toned, silvery gold iridescence, splashes of bright blue. NGC graded Proof 64.
Estimated Value $1,250-UP.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1193.

Lot 5683
RUSSIA. Poltina, 1856. F'-SP'. Sev-3643; Y-17. Alexander II. Delightful silvery gray toning. NGC graded MS-62.
Estimated Value $200-250.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1195.

Lot 5684
RUSSIA. Poltina, 1856. F'-SP'. Sev-3643; Y-17. Alexander II. Bright silvery gray mirrors. NGC graded MS-62.
Estimated Value $150-200.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1194.

Lot 5685
RUSSIA. 25 Kopecks Lot: 1852, 1856, 1858. Sev-3593, 3642, 3659; Cr-166.1, Y-16.1. Lot of 3 coins. Very Fine to Extremely Fine.
Estimated Value $40-60.

Lot 5686
RUSSIA. 3 Kopecks, 1856-EM. B-170; Y-5.1. Alexander II. Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-50.

Lot 5687
RUSSIA. Ruble, 1857. F'-SP'. Dav-283; Sev-3655. Alexander II. Brilliant frosted centers with a halo of elegant golden blue iridescence. A pristine and visually lovely example of this important Proof rarity. NGC graded Proof 65.
Estimated Value $1,500-2,000.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1127.

Lot 5688
RUSSIA. 10 Kopecks, 1857. F'. Sev-3646; Y-14.1. Alexander II. Prooflike. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Lot 5689
RUSSIA. 10 Kopecks, 1857. F'. Sev-3646; Y-14.1. Alexander II. Prooflike. Toned. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Lot 5690
RUSSIA. 5 Kopecks, 1857. F'. Sev-3645; Y-13. Silver. Alexander II. Toned. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Lot 5691
RUSSIA. Medal, 1857. Bronze. 56 mm. by A. Ljalin. 700th Anniversary of Christianity in Finland. Bust of Alexander II right. Reverse: Pagan Finnish couple kneeling on rocky seascape receiving the holy spirit. Beautiful mahogany-brown prooflike surfaces, the designs in high relief. Choice About Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $150-200.

Lot 5692
RUSSIA. 10 Kopecks, 1858. F'. Sev-3657; Y-14.1. Alexander II. Prooflike. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $30-40.

Lot 5693
RUSSIA. 5 Kopecks, 1858. EM. B-216. Y-6. Alexander II. First type eagle. With light contact marks. Rare. Proof.
Estimated Value $600-800.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1284.

Lot 5694
RUSSIA. 5 Kopecks, 1858. F'. Sev-3656; Y-13. Silver. Alexander II. Scarce date. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $50-75.

Lot 5695
RUSSIA. Ruble, 1859. F'-SP'. Dav-289; Sev-3679. Very Rare date. A handsome, brilliant coin with a frosted eagle and light iridescent silvery gold toning. NGC graded MS-63.
Estimated Value $1,000-1,250.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1133.

Lot 5696
RUSSIA. Ruble, 1859. Dav-290; Sev-3681. Alexander II. Nicholas I Monument commemorative. Rare. A marvelous-looking coin with bright but delicate gold toning. NGC graded Proof 64.
Estimated Value $600-800.

Lot 5697
RUSSIA. Ruble, 1859. Dav-290; Sev-3681. Alexander II. Nicholas I Monument commemorative. Rare. A thin halo of bright blue and gold iridescent toning on each side. The Czar's portrait is frosted and white. The monument, too, is lightly frosted against the fields. Pleasing and choice. NGC graded Proof 63.
Estimated Value $500-700.

Lot 5698
RUSSIA. Poltina, 1859. F'-SP'. Sev-3678; Y-24. Alexander II. Small crown. Handling marks in the fields but the mirrors are exceptionally bright with bluish gray and light gold toning. NGC graded Proof 62.
Estimated Value $200-300.
Ex Irving Goodman Sale, Feb 1991, Lot 1203.

Lot 5699
RUSSIA. 5 Kopecks, 1859. F'. Sev-3670; Y-19.1. Silver. Alexander II. Transitional year. Choice Uncirculated.
Estimated Value $40-60.

More