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500 Roubles Icon of Minsk
| Issuer | National Bank of the Republic of Belarus |
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| Year | 2013 |
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| Technique | Proof |
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| Obverse description | The obverse features an ornate decorative border of interlacing acanthus scrollwork in high relief, framing a central diamond-shaped cartouche enclosing a depiction of an Orthodox cross with a circular medallion at its center. The state emblem of the Republic of Belarus appears in the upper left field, accompanied by the legend 'РЭСПУБЛІКА БЕЛАРУСЬ' in Cyrillic script along the top. The denomination '500 РУБЛЁЎ' and date '2013', along with the silver fineness designation 'Ag 925', are inscribed along the lower margin of the rectangular flan. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a finely rendered icon of the Minsk Mother of God (Theotokos of Minsk), depicted in the traditional Byzantine manner with the Virgin Mary shown in a three-quarter frontal pose, her head covered in a maphorion, tenderly holding the Christ Child on her left arm. The Christ Child is shown facing forward with a gold-plated halo, offering a gesture of blessing. Both principal figures bear gold-plated haloes, their faces executed in delicate relief against a richly textured background of stylized floral and foliate motifs that fill the field. Abbreviated Cyrillic Marian and Christological inscriptions appear in the upper field flanking the figures. A cartouche at the base of the design bears the inscription 'МІНСКАЯ' identifying the icon. |
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Issued under Belarus's long-running sacred art bullion program, which has produced dozens of icon-themed issues since the early 2000s. The National Bank of Belarus contracted state-approved ecclesiastical artists for these designs, working within the Russian Orthodox iconographic tradition that dominates religious life in the country.
The 500-gram format places this squarely among the bank's prestige devotional issues, where partial gold plating is applied selectively by hand after striking — a process that introduces enough variation between individual pieces to make strict gem grading comparisons unreliable across the series.