25 Roubles Grand Duke Vladimir – Baptizer of Russia

Issued as part of the Bank of Russia's ongoing commemorative program honoring figures of early Russian statehood, this piece marks the 1000th anniversary of the death of Vladimir the Great, who died in 1015. His mass baptism of Kievan Rus in 988 — by most accounts coerced, with residents of Novgorod reportedly driven into the Volkhov River at sword-point — is the event the Russian Orthodox Church formally commemorates as the Christianization of Rus. The anniversary gave the 2015 issue its political moment.

The CBR's large-format silver commemoratives in this series are struck to proof standard with selective gilding on most issues, though mintage figures for individual releases rarely exceed 1,500 pieces.