3 Roubles The North Convoy

Issued in 1992 as part of Russia's early commemorative program following the Soviet collapse, this piece honors the Allied Arctic convoys of World War II — the supply runs from Britain, Iceland, and North America to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk that delivered over four million tons of war materiel between 1941 and 1945. The convoys suffered catastrophic losses, most notoriously during the scattering of convoy PQ-17 in July 1942, when a British Admiralty order dispersed the ships and German forces subsequently sank 24 of the 35 merchant vessels.

Russia's recognition of the convoys in coin form came decades after surviving veterans had lobbied both Soviet and post-Soviet governments for formal acknowledgment.