Beard token 1725, 23.70 g. Novodel. Square type. Rudenko B22.N. Bitkin 3903 (R2). Brekke 10. Selten / Rare. NGC VF35.

From the Antonin Prokop Collection, auction Aurea Numismatika, Prague, December 2002, lot 111.

Mr. Prokop was a trader and a famous collector of Russian coins. During the Russian revolution the communists confiscated his collection, but he succeeded in buying most of his collection back. Next the communists entered Prague where he was keeping his saved collection and confiscated it again. After the collapse of Soviet Union the Prokop family received the collection back and they have been able to sell these treasures to private collectors.

An engaging relic from Peter the Great's program to "Westernize" Russia, beard tokens such as this reflected the tsar's fascination with contemporary Europe, where he saw that few men sported facial hair. Amidst the consternation at his request that all Russian men should shave their traditional beards, Peter allowed for men to keep their facial hair, provided they pay an annual beard tax, which tokens such as this were meant to serve as proof of.

The first square beard tax tokens had just been minted and all but two tokens that are currently in the national museum Heremitage were destoryed. This particular very rare token is a 19th century restrike.