10 000 Roubles Amur Tiger

Issued as part of Russia's ambitious wildlife conservation series, this piece was struck at the Moscow Mint (MMD) in 1996 at a mintage of just 250 examples. The Amur tiger — critically endangered and numbering fewer than 400 individuals in the wild at the time of issue — had been the subject of an active Russian federal protection program since the Soviet period, and the coin's production coincided with renewed international attention following a 1995 WWF-backed census that confirmed the population had stabilized after decades of poaching pressure.

At just over one kilogram of fine gold, it remains one of the largest denominated coins Russia produced in the 1990s.