Details

With the expertise by the Society of Friends to the State Historical Museum, signed by I.V. Shiryakov
The picture of this very coin is in GM and in Biktin catalogue!! Such coin is missing in the numismatic collection of the State Historic Museum in Moscow! According to the expertise the coin is of great interest as numismatic monument.
This piece supersedes definitely the state of preservation of piece in the Tolstoy collection (Adolph Hess auction 142, 10th of March 1913, lot 418)!
Because of its rarity such coin was not in the famous `Russian Coins from 19th and 20th Centuries. Collection of Duplicates from Russian Museums, Adolph Hess auction 204, 18th of February 1931!
The very high and bold relief, in connection with the aesthetic quality of the coin as a whole, intended to satisfy high government officials in all regards. Taking into account this circumstance as well as the extreme rarity of this coin, one can place it among the great rarities of pattern coinage. Merely the lack of corresponding testimonies and documents does not allow us to speak of an official pattern. Nevertheless one cannot deny a direct connection with a presentation, trial, pattern or demonstration minting when regarding this coin. Being the first year of coinage this type also allows the assumption that it was a pattern or trial coin. Numismatic literature, in contrast, knows no patterns for this series of Polupoltinnik coins for 1808 to 1810. Further studies based on this coin should prove to be an exciting challenge. In regard to rarity, one can mention that only in the year 1913 we were able to find a similar piece that was auctioned but that specimen was of lesser quality than the coin coming to auction in our sale.
*) Important note: Bidding on this lot requires an enhanced due diligence. Please consult the conditions of sale !