RUSSIA. 25 Ruble, 2 1/2 Imperials, 1908. PCGS PROOF-65 Secure Holder.Fr-171; Y-A65; Bit-314(R3); Sev-587(<strong>EXTREMELY RARE</strong>); RK-370a; Uzd-4213. Reported mintage of 150 pieces, and the only Russian denomination struck in gold dated 1908. Issued as a commemorative for the 40th birthday of Tsar Nicholas II. Born on the 6th of May in 1868, by the time of the Tsars 40th birthday the Russian Empire was already in steep decline.
The Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) was a spectacular disaster for Russia, that culminated with the Battle of Tsushima when, after steaming 16,000 miles across the globe, nearly the entire Russian Baltic Fleet was destroyed. The idea of a European power losing a military conflict to the Japanese inflicted an enormous amount of damage to the prestige of the Tsarist government, both at home and abroad. It also greatly damaged the Russian economy, and led directly to the Revolution of 1905 wherein social unrest spread throughout the empire.
The revolution was finally put down in June of 1907, but not before the establishment of the State Duma, the multi-party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906, all of which would have been unthinkable only a few years earlier. As is often the case historically, whenever an absolutist ruler loses absolute power, eventually he ends-up absolutely dead, which was precisely the eventual fate of Nicholas II almost exactly a decade after his 40th birthday. Yet at the time this coin was struck, all of the pomp and royal privilege of the Tsarist autocracy was still intact, at least in as far as coinage was concerned.
The piece offered here is the single finest graded example at PCGS and NGC, and one of only four submissions for the date. While earlier (1896) dated pieces struck for Nicholas coronation also exist, they are not as highly coveted as the 1908 dated coins. With the piece presented here being the very finest graded example, and quite possibly the finest extant as well, the desirability of this PROOF striking can not be overemphasized.
The mirrored fields are nearly flawless, with deep hard ice reflectivity contributing boundless amounts of flash to the piece. The portrait is also virtually flawless, and retains all of regal qualities first employed on Nicholas IIs coinage a dozen years earlier at his coronation. Bright yellow gold free of tone and with beaming luster, produces an incomparable experience upon inspection. The procurement of this coin and its addition to a collection will no doubt be one of the most memorable acquisitions the winning bidder will ever make.，PCGS PROOF-65 Secure Holder.，From the Kiev Collection. Ex: Mortimer Hammel Collection. Stacks Auction September 1982, Lot #601.
