Catherine II seized the throne in June 1762 following a coup that deposed — and within days killed — her husband Peter III. These 10-rouble pieces were struck almost immediately as part of a deliberate monetary policy to assert legitimacy, with the St. Petersburg mint retooling rapidly after Peter III's own short-lived coinage. The two-year window of this type is tight precisely because Catherine's portrait and titulature were revised as her reign consolidated.
The СПБ mintmark places production firmly at St. Petersburg. Surviving examples from 1762 are considerably scarcer than the 1763 strikes, reflecting the disrupted conditions of the coup year itself.
Catherine II seized the throne in June 1762 following a coup that deposed — and within days killed — her husband Peter III. These 10-rouble pieces were struck almost immediately as part of a deliberate monetary policy to assert legitimacy, with the St. Petersburg mint retooling rapidly after Peter III's own short-lived coinage. The two-year window of this type is tight precisely because Catherine's portrait and titulature were revised as her reign consolidated.
The СПБ mintmark places production firmly at St. Petersburg. Surviving examples from 1762 are considerably scarcer than the 1763 strikes, reflecting the disrupted conditions of the coup year itself.