10 Roubles War of 1812

Issued on the bicentennial of Napoleon's catastrophic Russian campaign, this coin commemorates a conflict that began with the Grande Armée numbering roughly 685,000 men and ended — after the retreat from Moscow — with fewer than 100,000 crossing back into friendly territory. Belarus absorbed some of the heaviest fighting; the Battle of Berezina, where French forces crossed the river under Cossack attack in late November 1812, took place on what is now Belarusian soil.