10 Kopecks - Ekaterina II Novodel

Novodels — official restrike specimens produced by the Russian Imperial Mint for collectors and foreign dignitaries — occupy a peculiar category: sanctioned fabrications made with original or newly cut dies, often indistinguishable from genuine issues without close die study. This particular piece dates to the final year of Catherine II's reign, and the Bitkin references spanning two numbers (893 and 895) suggest die variations exist within the novodel production itself, a detail that matters considerably to advanced collectors of this series.

Catherine died in November 1796. Her son Paul I immediately halted her entire copper coinage reform, making late-reign restrikes like this one artifacts of a monetary policy that was abruptly cancelled.