俄国沙皇保罗一世银币 NGC AU 50。Bitkin-H221(R3); Julian-918(RRRR); Severin-2378(RRR); Zander-pp82. VERY RARE. Pattern Ruble designed by Carl Leberecht (CLF on truncation) depicting perruqued portrait of Tsar Paul I in the uniform of the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, with a diagonal sash of the Order of Saint Andrew and Cross of Saint Anne at the throat; Reverse: Tsars monogram "P" in cruciform around a central double headed eagle within circle. The coin was referred to as the Portrait Ruble in contemporary documents, and was struck as a pattern while Paul I struggled with the financial debts left behind by Catherine The Great. Initial proposals called for boosting the silver content by 41% thereby returning to the metallic content of Ruble coinage from a century earlier. With the new Ruble coinage being similar and exchangeable at par with the then dominant Albertus-Taler (the standard for trade in much of the Baltic region at the time). Adoption of the new standard was abandoned for several reasons, most notably a shortage of silver. Subsequent coinage for Paul I adhered to a metallic content that would remain in effect until the collapse of the Romanov dynasty in 1917. The piece offered here is a Novodel striking, as evidenced by the die cancellation marks visible in the obverse field behind the portrait. With subsequent production coinage lacking a portrait, this piece represents one of the few examples extant displaying the Tsar, and in what is considered to be a very attractively executed portrait which was approved by the Tsar himself. Dark intense tone uniformly covers the surface, with limited silver color showing through along the highest points. Seldom offered and always of the greatest interest, the opportunity offered here is one to seriously contemplate. NGC AU-50.
