10 Kopecks - Alexander I Pattern, countermarked of 5 Kopecks of Ekaterina II

This piece belongs to a broader 1809 recoinage program under Alexander I, during which earlier Catherine II copper was systematically withdrawn and countermarked to new face values rather than fully remelted — a cost-saving measure driven by chronic copper shortages and the financial strain preceding Russia's entanglement in the Napoleonic conflicts. The countermark itself is the policy made physical: the state asserting new value over old metal without the expense of a full mint run.

Bit#700 identifies this as a pattern rather than an issued piece, meaning it was struck for approval, not circulation. Few survived bureaucratic review.