First Russian gold coins were stroke at the end of the 10th century, but since Russia didn't have any gold deposits locally discovered until the middle of the 18th century, all gold coins had been minted from the imported gold (mainly from Europe) and were used more as medals and gifts rather than for circulation. The first Russian gold coin was "Zlatnik" or "Zlato" (meaning golden or piece of gold) and it was stroke for Vladimir, the Grand Duke of Kiev.

With the lack of gold mined in the country, there weren't a great number of gold coins minted until the middle of 13th century, when Ivan III (Ivan the Great) started minting gold coins, which were more like trade coinage and were of the same standard as Austrian (Austrian-Hungarian at that time) Ducats. Later under different rulers, more denominations of gold coins were issued, mainly fractions of Chervonets (half and quarter), but also there were gold Kopeks and gold Denga.

If you feel curious, you can have a sneak peak now (a new window will open) on some of the Russian gold coins that are selling now.

First Russian gold coins issued for circulation were minted under Peter the Great in the 18th century. The first gold deposit was discovered in 1745 in Ural Mountains under the rule of Empress Elizabeth and since that time production of Russian gold coins for circulation (Imperials, Chervonets, and their fractions) was continuous and stable for all Russian Rulers.

Gold coins of early Russian Empire are not often seen for sale, mostly you will find something from the 19th century and up. Most popular coins available on the market now are 5 and 10 Gold Rouble coins minted at the late 19th century and early 20th. Everything else would be considered as a rarity and would cost accordingly.

If you feel like that's enough for theory, you can dive into the world of gold coins and Russian gold coins in particular right now (a new window will open).

Soviet Russia didn't have too many gold coins for a long time. The only type was Chervonets (10 Roubles), first minted in 1923 under the RSFSR, and then in 1925 under the USSR, but only one remaining coin is known. After that, there was a big pause in issuing gold coin in Soviet Union, and only in 70s, they started producing gold coins again: Chervonets as the trade coinage, and gold commemorative coins (100 Roubles) issued for XXII Moscow Olympics.

Change of the regime didn't shake intentions of New Russia to mint gold coins - even when it was chaos in the country, gold coins were minted promptly. At the present time, Russia produces significant number of gold coins as many other countries. Currently, there're three main series of Russian gold coins: the Russian Ballet, Russian Wildlife, and Zodiac Signs.

I hope you enjoyed reading the article, and viewing some examples of Russian gold coins will logically complement the story.

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