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3 Roubles Yuri Gagarin Monument
| Issuer | State Bank of the USSR |
|---|---|
| Year | 1991 |
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| Value | 3 Roubles (3 SUR) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Cyrillic |
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| Reverse description | The central device depicts the monument to Yuri Gagarin in Moscow, rendered as a stylised, elongated heroic figure of the cosmonaut standing atop a fluted columnar plinth, arms slightly raised at his sides, clad in a spacesuit. Flanking the central figure on either side are two large circular decorative elements evoking cosmic spirals and nebulae, interspersed with four-pointed star motifs, conveying the imagery of outer space. A curved Cyrillic legend arcs along the upper periphery reading 30 ЛЕТ ПЕРВОГО ПОЛЕТА ЧЕЛОВЕКА В КОСМОС, while the commemorative dates 1961 and 1991 appear in the lower field separated by the base of the monument, each flanked by a raised dot. |
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| Additional information |
Issued in the final year of the Soviet Union's existence, this piece belongs to a commemorative program the USSR had been running since the mid-1970s — partly for collector revenue in hard currency, partly as soft propaganda distributed through Intourist and foreign numismatic channels. The Gagarin monument referenced here stands in Moscow near the Leninsky Prospekt metro station, unveiled in 1980 on the anniversary of his first flight.
Gagarin died in a MiG-15UTI crash in March 1968 under circumstances that remain disputed. The official investigation blamed pilot error; subsequent declassified materials suggest an unauthorized aircraft in restricted airspace forced the fatal maneuver.