Russia Rouble (Centennial of Napoleon's Defeat) (Fakes are possible) 1912

In 1812, an ill-advised and perhaps slightly megalomaniacal Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Russians after a disastrous attempt at an invasion. The army made slow progress, hindered by the cold Russian winter and the Cossacks burning down fields as they retreated, leaving no sustenance for the soon starving French troops.

These large silver roubles were issued in 1912 to commemorate the defeat of 1812. In Russia, the French invasion of Russia is known as the 'Patriotic War of 1812'. Only 46,000 were minted, a rather low number, and the values remain high today for coins that have been properly stored.

Note that there are counterfeits of these coins out there. These unofficial restrikes are usually of the same size, but a slightly different weight than genuine coins. They will also have slightly fuzzy details, often best seen in the coat of arms on the reverse. Compare with our image of a genuine specimen, as well as the weight and diameter as listed below:

WEIGHT: 19.996 grams
DIAMETER: 34 millimeters
(The purity is 90% silver.)

worn: $300 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $1300
well preserved: $2500
fully uncirculated: $4000

As noted, these are somewhat rare coins. With the amount of well-produced counterfeits on the market, I would strongly suggest only buying a 1912 rouble from a dealer you know and trust. Requester Owl's coin appears to have some fuzziness on the surface, and a slightly suspicious coloration. But from pictures alone, I'm unable to definitively say whether it's a counterfeit coin or just a genuine coin that was cleaned in the past few years, with partial repatination of the cleaned and original dark patination on the surfaces untouched by the cleaning. As such, be very careful with these!

A genuine coin that has been damaged by being cleaned, heavily scratched, bent, or mounted as jewelry will be worth much less than the values cited above, which are catalog values. Please see our Important Terminology page at the top left in order to properly translate them into actual buy- and sell values.

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