10 Roubles - Catherine II

Catherine II's gold 10-rouble pieces from this period are sometimes called "imperials" in older literature, though that designation more precisely belongs to earlier types — the nomenclature has caused persistent confusion in auction catalogues for two centuries. These were struck during the most expansive phase of Russian territorial acquisition, a period when the empire absorbed the Crimea, concluded the Russo-Turkish Wars, and absorbed vast swaths of Poland through partition. Demand for high-denomination coinage tracked directly with the administrative costs of governing newly annexed territories and maintaining Catherine's famously expensive court.

The St. Petersburg Mint underwent significant technical reorganization in the 1780s under the direction of imported Scots engineer James Watt's business partner Matthew Boulton — though Boulton's full influence on Russian minting came slightly later under Paul I.