25 Roubles Aries

Part of the Bank of Russia's ongoing zodiac series, this piece was issued as one of twelve types covering the full astrological cycle. The series ran across multiple years in the early 2000s and was produced in limited quantities aimed squarely at the collector market, with minimal genuine circulation ever intended.

Russia's post-Soviet commemorative gold program expanded aggressively through this period, with the CBR authorizing dozens of small-format bullion-adjacent issues annually — a revenue strategy as much as a numismatic one.