RUSSIA, Tsars of Russia. Pavl I Petrovich, 1796-1801. 5 Kopeks dated 1791 (1797) (Bronze, 44 mm, 50.16 g, 12 h), re-overstruck over 10 lightweight Kopeks 1796 from Ekaterina II Velikaya (the Great) overstrike of an earlier 5 Kopeks, St. Petersburg. Crowned monogram of Ekaterina II divides date 17-91 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 100. Brekke 7. Uzdenikov 2839. Very rare. Traces of overstriking and with minor flan faults on the edge, otherwise, about 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 this piece, the traces of the original 10 Kopeks overstrike are exceptionally clear. The obverse shows the obverse of the preceding overstrike ('10 / ДЕСЯТЬ / КОПѢЕКЪ / 1796,' Brekke 42; alignment: 3 h), while the reverse clearly reveals the monogram of Tsarina Catherine II and the dotted border (alignment: 3 h). Even though the mintmark EM points to Ekaterinburg, the piece was overstruck in St. Petersburg. 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.