100 Roubles The European Beaver

Part of Russia's long-running wildlife conservation series, this issue coincides with sustained reintroduction efforts for the European beaver across Russian river systems — populations had been hunted to near-extinction by the early twentieth century, with fewer than 1,200 animals estimated to survive on the entire continent by the 1920s. The Soviet Union established dedicated beaver reserves beginning in 1927, and recovery was slow enough that the species remained a conservation priority decades later.

The .900 fine gold standard used here follows the specification the Bank of Russia applied consistently across its commemorative wildlife issues of this period, struck at the Moscow Mint.