The Willis H. duPont - Georgii Mikhailovich Collection of
Russian Coins and Medals
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There are over 10,000 Russian coins and 1,250 medals in this collection
once owned by the Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich,
nephew of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The accumulation forms the basis
for the National Numismatic Collection's Russian section, the finest collection
of Russian coins outside of Russia, including many great rarities and
pattern pieces.
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The collection begins with a few examples of ingots and coins from the
early principalities which made up Russia, and then goes on to the time
of Peter the Great, who is very well represented, including over 400 rubles,
plus many examples of the smaller denominations and various medals and
commemorative pieces. Of special interest are the very rare pattern two
ruble piece of 1722, and the beard tokens of 1705, issued at the time
when Peter had ordered the Boyars (Russian nobility) to shave their traditional
beards as part of his program to modernize Russia.
Highlights of the collection include examples of coins and medals
from every ruler after Peter the Great (1689-1725) up to the Russian
revolution. Among these coins are the "pugachev" ruble of 1771, a coin
erroneously associated in popular mythology with the Cossack Emilian
Pugachev, leader of the famous peasant uprising during the reign of
Catharine the Great, and the beautiful "Family" 1 1/2 rubles of Nicholas
I, representing the head of Nicholas I's wife, the Tsarina Alexandra
Fedorovna, surrounded by the heads of their seven children.
The most outstanding rarity of the collection is the
Constantine ruble of 1825, which has an interesting story attached
to it. After Alexander I's death, his brother, Constantin Pavlovitch,
then governor of Poland, was proclaimed Tsar against his will, and coins
were prepared in secret at the St. Petersburg mint. Due to Constantine's
wishes, his younger brother was proclaimed Tsar instead, leaving the
mint with five potentially embarrassing patterns portraying Constantine
as Tsar. The coins were thus kept secretly at the Ministry of Finance
for over fifty years before resurfacing as unique collector's items.
