The 200th Anniversary of the First Russian National Library, St. Petersburg

Obverse

in the center — the Emblem of the Bank of Russia (the two-headed eagle designed by I.Bilibin), the letters under it indicate the metal sign, the fineness, the mint trademark and the fine metal content. The inscriptions along the rim framed by a circle of dots: at the top — «3 РУБЛЯ 1995 г.» (3 RUBLES 1995), at the bottom — «БАНК РОССИИ» (BANK OF RUSSIA).

Reverse

a view of the Russian National Library building and a scroll, a book, a goose-quill and a garland of leaves with ribbons, the inscriptions along the rim: at the top - "РОССИЙСКАЯ НАЦИОНАЛЬНАЯ БИБЛИОТЕКА" (THE RUSSIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY), at the bottom - "ОСНОВАНА В 1795 г. САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ" (FOUNDED IN 1795. ST. PETERSBURG).

Authors

The artist: A.V. Baklanov
The sculptors: D.Y. Perepelkin, A.V. Baklanov
St. Petersburg Mint (ЛМД)
The edge: 300 corrugations

The Russian National Library (formerly the Imperial Public Library) was founded on May 16, 1795, as the first public library in the country. One of the world's largest libraries, it keeps more than 31 million books.