Gena the Crocodile

Obverse

in the centre there is a relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation and over it a semicircular inscription along the rim ‘РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ’ (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) framed by doubled rhombuses on both sides, under the emblem, in three lines, there is an inscription ‘БАНК РОССИИ’ (BANK OF RUSSIA), the coin’s par value ‘25 РУБЛЕЙ’ (25 RUBLES), and the year of issue ‘2020 г.’ (2020), and on the right there is a mint trade mark.

Reverse

a coloured image of the characters of the 'Gena the Crocodile' animation film; to the left, there is a relief image of a railway ticket office; to the right, along the top rim there is an inscription 'КРОКОДИЛ ГЕНА' (GENA THE CROCODILE).

Authors

Designers: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), A.A. Brynza (reverse).
Sculptors: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse), computer simulation (reverse).
Mint: Moscow Mint (ММД).
Edge: 180 corrugations.

Discover more

‘Gena the Crocodile’ is a 1969 Russian stop-motion animated film produced by Soyuzmultfilm studio. The film is based on Eduard Uspensky’s book ‘Crocodile Gena and His Friends’.

Gena the Crocodile works as a crocodile in a zoo. He is kind but very lonely, so he decides to make friends. He posts advertisements all around the city and receives responses from a girl named Galya with a homeless puppy Tobik, and Cheburashka – a big-eared animal unknown to science who came to the city in a crate of oranges.

The viewers were so fond of clumsy Cheburashka that the film became iconic, and the character gained popularity worldwide.

The animated film was directed by Roman Kachanov, who also wrote the script together with Eduard Uspensky. Gena the Crocodile was voiced by Vasily Livanov, and Cheburashka – by Klara Rumyanova.