Saint Petersburg Mint of Goznak (Russia), Central Bank of the Russian Federation

25 rubles

169,00

60,00

Silver 925°

150

Proof

The artists: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), A.D. Schablykin (reverse). The sculptor: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse, reverse).

Saint Petersburg Mint of Goznak (Russia)

The obverse: on the mirror field of the disc – the relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation, over it – the semicircular inscription along the rim: "РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ" (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), framed on both sides by doubled rhombuses, below under the coat of arms: to the left – indications of the precious metal and its fineness, to the right – the fine metal content and the mint trade mark, at the bottom in the centre, in three lines – the inscription: "БАНК РОССИИ" (BANK OF RUSSIA), the denomination of the coin: "25 РУБЛЕЙ" (25 RUBLES), the year of issue: "2016 г." (2016). The reverse: in the centre of the disc – against a background of the traditional Russian ornament elements the image of the Great Imperial Crown with color elements, above along the rim the inscription: "АЛМАЗНЫЙ ФОНД РОССИИ" (DIAMOND FUND OF RUSSIA).

For the coronation of the Empress Catherine II in 1762, the court jeweler Georg Friedrich Eckardt and a jewelry master Jérémie Pauzié created the Great Imperial Crown. The crown of the Russian Empire is decorated with 4,936 diamonds and the most famous of its jewels is a spinel ruby of 398.72 carats. This stone was purchased in 1676 from the Chinese Emperor Kangxi and originally decorated the imperial headdress of Elizabeth I. For a long time the precious stone was taken for a huge ruby, and only at the end of the last century gemologists proved that the stone was a spinel.