The Sphinx by the Building of the Art Academy
Obverse
in the centre - the Emblem of the Bank of Russia [the two-headed eagle with wings down, lower - the semicircular inscription - "БАНК РОССИИ" (BANK OF RUSSIA)] framed by a circle of dots and inscriptions along the rim: at the top - "ОДИН РУБЛЬ" (ONE RUBLE), at the bottom - the year of issue "2003", the letters to the left indicate the metal sign and the fineness, to the right - the fine metal content and the mint trade mark.
Reverse
the picture of a sphinx. The inscription at the top along the rim - "САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ" (SAINT PETERSBURG).
Authors
The artist: A.V. Baklanov.
The sculptor: A.S. Kunats.
St. Petersburg Mint (СПМД).
The edge: 200 corrugations.
The stone sculpture of the sphinx found during the excavations in the Thebes, the capital of the ancient Egypt, had been installed on granite pier of the Neva River Embankment, by the building of the Saint Petersburg Art Academy, in 1834.