850 th Anniversary of Moscow

Obverse

the two-headed eagle designed by artist I. Bilibin. The inscriptions along the rim: at the top — «ОДИН РУБЛЬ 1997 г.» (ONE RUBLE 1997), at the bottom — «БАНК РОССИИ» (BANK OF RUSSIA). The letters below indicate the metal sign, the fineness, the fine metal content and the mint trademark.

Reverse

the picture of the Cathedral of Kazan Virgin's Icon on Red Square. Below - the inscription "МОСКВА" (MOSCOW), to the left - the Coat of Arms of Moscow and the figure "850".

Authors

The artist: A.V. Baklanov
The sculptor: S.A. Kornilov
St. Petersburg Mint (ЛМД) - 20 000 pcs
Moscow Mint (ММД) - 5 000 pcs
The edge: 200 corrugations

The Cathedral was built on Duke Dmitri Pozharski's donation in 1620-1636 to commemorate the victory of the home guard headed by Minin and Pozharski over the Polish and Lithuanian invaders. It was finished after a fire in 1636. The most sacred object of Minin and Pozharski's home guard was a copy of Kazan Virgin's Icon that was believed to protect the Russian army during the liberation of Moscow and that was solemnly brought into Russian towns liberated from foreign invaders. The Cathedral was built by apprentice Abrosim Maximov and blessed by Patriarch Josif on October 15th 1636 in presence of Duke Pozharski. In 1936 the Cathedral was destroyed. It was reconstructed in 1993 according to drafts of architects P.B. Baranovski and O.I. Zhurin. The works were financed by Moscow government and Russian individuals