RUSSIA, Tsars of Russia. Pavl I Petrovich, 1796-1801. 5 Kopeks dated 1796 (1797) (Bronze, 44 mm, 41.51 g, 12 h), re-overstruck over 10 lightweight Kopeks 1796 from Ekaterina II Velikaya (the Great) overstrike of an earlier 5 Kopeks, Ekaterinburg. Crowned monogram of Ekaterina II divides date 17-96 within wreath. Rev. E М / ПЯТЬ•КОПѢЕКЪ Crowned double eagle facing with wings spread, wearing shield on breast depicting St. George slaying the dragon, and holding sceptre and orb; crown above. Bitkin 109. Brekke 17. Uzdenikov 2912. Very rare. Minor flan faults, deposits and tiny edge nicks, otherwise, good very fine.


Paul I’s re-overstriking program of 1797 produced one of the most extraordinary episodes in Russian numismatics. Following Catherine II’s lightweight copper coinage - where 5 Kopek pieces were revalued by overstriking them with 10 Kopek dies - her successor Paul I reversed the practice by overstriking them yet again with 5 Kopek dies. In a calculated move to pin the blame on the previous administration, Paul I even had them restruck with Catherine II’s own designs (cf. B. F. Brekke: The Copper Coinage of Imperial Russia, 1700-1917, Malmö 1977, p. 176).

On our piece, traces of the last host coin are still plain to see: the original netted edge beneath the re-cut edge, partial letters from ‘КОПѢЕКЪ’ ghosting through the new type. The faint divider line and scattered details of the underlying reverse of the cipher design (Brekke 42) still emerge under close inspection. In short, this is a coin struck three times - one tsarina and one tsar, one devaluation, and two revaluations, all embodied in a single piece.