Brief Russian History Although a Russian dynasty was founded in 862 by the Vikings and became an important power, Russia came under Mongol rule from the thirteenth century until they were overthrown in the late fifteenth century by Ivan III. Under the later reigns of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and Catherine the Great, the Russian Empire was expanded greatly covering a large part of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The abdication of Tsar Nicholas II preceded the Russian (October) revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks and the SDLP gained power, and the various states formed the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, which in 1922 under Lenin became the USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In 1991, a number of the republics broke away from the USSR, and the CIS or Commonwealth of Independent States was formed.

According to the CIA Website:

Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR. The brutal rule of Iosif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened Communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the social, political, and economic controls of the Communist period. While some progress has been made on the economic front, and Russia's management of its windfall oil wealth has improved its financial standing, recent years have seen a recentralization of power under Vladimir PUTIN and democratic institutions remain weak. Russia has severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement, although sporadic violence still occurs throughout the North Caucusus.

Russian Gold Coins
In earlier days, Russia issued gold kopeks, ducats, poltinas, and novodels. In more recent times, most of the gold coins have been roubles or multiples of roubles, including chervonetz which are equivalent to 10 roubles.
We give below the specifications of most of the more frequently encountered Russian gold coins, followed by a stock list of any we have for sale.

• Russian Empire
  Pre USSR Russian coins.
• Chervonetz - RSFSR
  We have now given the Chervonetz issues of the RSFSR (and the later USSR) their own page.
• USSR - General - 1978 to 1991
• USSR - Moscow Olympics Gold Coins, 1977 - 1980
• Russia - CIS - From 1991

Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £9 per order
EU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail $10 per order
USA Insured Shipping $20 per order

Other Russian Coins
For Russian or USSR coins in silver or base metal, or Russian coin sets other than gold, please look at the Russian Coins page of our original website.