Weapons Designer Fyodor Tokarev
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 relief image of the TT pistol and the inscription ‘ТТ’ (TT) on the bottom left; along the rim there are the inscriptions ‘ОРУЖИЕ ВЕЛИКОЙ ПОБЕДЫ’ (WEAPONS OF THE GREAT VICTORY) at the top and ‘Ф.В. ТОКАРЕВ’ (FYODOR TOKAREV) at the bottom.
Authors
Designers: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), O.G. Shepel (reverse).
Sculptors: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse), computer simulation (reverse).
Mint: Moscow Mint (ММД).
Edge: 180 corrugations.
Discover more
Fyodor Vasilievich Tokarev (1871-1968) was a Soviet weapons designer, who developed the first Soviet semi-automatic pistol, accepted for service in 1931 under the official name ‘7.62 mm semi-automatic pistol, 1930 design’, later called ‘TT’ (Tula Tokarev).
In the late 1920s, weapons designers were ordered to develop a pistol to replace the outdated Nagant revolver and foreign pistols that were used by the Red Army at the time. The new firearm was supposed to be compact and lightweight, to have a long firing range and short reloading time. It was also necessary to be able to manufacture it using the available equipment. The tender announced in 1929 was won by the TT pistol, created by a group of designers led by Fyodor Tokarev at the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant.
The TT pistol was based on a Browning design. It was easy to use, balanced in size and weight. The pistol boasted long firing range, high accuracy, and impressive calibre and penetrating force. Low production cost was also very important.
During the preparation for mass production, the TT was modernised, and in 1934 it was accepted for service under the name ‘7.62 mm semi-automatic pistol, 1933 design’ and launched into production. The TT became one of the most used pistols during World War II. Among other things, it was used as a sidearm by Red Army command officers.