Catalog
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| Issuer | State Bank of the USSR |
|---|---|
| Year | 1991 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Bimetallic coin with a brass center and copper-nickel ring. The large numeral '5' dominates the center of the brass field, flanked by a sprig of leaves to the left and an oak branch to the right. The denomination 'РУБЛЕЙ' is inscribed below the numeral, with the Leningrad Mint monogram (ЛМД) appearing as a small mintmark beneath it. The date '1991' is positioned at the base of the ring, flanked by two five-pointed stars, while the legend 'ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ БАНК СССР' curves along the upper arc of the outer ring. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Cyrillic |
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| Additional information |
The "Owl" bimetallic was one of the last coin types authorized by the State Bank of the USSR before the union's dissolution — struck in 1991, the same year of the August coup attempt against Gorbachev and the formal collapse of Soviet authority. The bimetallic format itself was an innovation borrowed from Italian coinage technology, introduced partly to discourage the rampant slug-and-slug counterfeiting that had plagued Soviet vending infrastructure throughout the 1980s.
Mintage was split between the Leningrad and Moscow mints, with the Leningrad facility striking its final Soviet-issue coins that same year before the city reverted to its pre-revolutionary name.