3 Roubles - Nicholas I

These coins exist because of the Ural Mountains. Platinum was discovered there in significant quantities in 1824, and the Russian state — finding itself with a metal that European markets didn't yet value highly — decided to monetize it directly. Nicholas I authorized the world's first platinum coinage in 1828, a decision that no other government has replicated on a circulating basis before or since.

The series was demonetized in 1845 after the government grew concerned that rising international platinum prices would make melting profitable. Most surviving examples were in state hands and were sold off to foreign buyers — primarily in England — over subsequent decades.