2 Roubles Lion

Belarus adopted a new currency series in 2016 following a denomination revaluation that lopped four zeros off the old ruble, collapsing 10,000 old rubles into a single new one. The bimetallic format for these circulating coins was carried over from post-Soviet regional practice, though the specific alloy choices reflect cost pressures on the National Bank during a period of sustained economic contraction and IMF negotiations.

The lion on this issue references Belarusian heraldic tradition predating Soviet rule — the Pahonia arms, suppressed under the USSR, were partially rehabilitated in the 1990s before Lukashenko's government walked back much of that symbolic restoration.