Seaman Ivan F. Krusenstern — 250th Anniversary of Birth (19.11.1770)

Obverse

the mirror field of the disc bears a relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation, over it along the rim there is the semicircular inscription ‘РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ’ (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) framed on both sides by doubled rhombuses, below under the coat of arms there are indications of the precious metal and its fineness on the left and the fine metal content and the mint trade mark on the right, at the bottom in the centre, in three lines, there is an inscription ‘БАНК РОССИИ’ (BANK OF RUSSIA), the denomination of the coin ‘2 РУБЛЯ’ (2 RUBLES), and the year of issue ‘2020 г.’ (2020).

Reverse

the mirror field of the disc bears a relief portrait of Ivan Krusenstern against the background of an outline image of the map of his circumnavigation path of 1803-1806; along the top rim there is an inscription: 'И. Ф. КРУЗЕНШТЕРН' (I. F. KRUSENSTERN), and on the right there are the seaman's life years in two lines: '1770' and '1846'.

Authors

Designers: E.V. Kramskaya (obverse), A.A. Dolgopolova (reverse).
Sculptor: A.A. Dolgopolova (obverse, reverse).
Mint: Saint Petersburg Mint (СПМД).
Edge: 195 corrugations.

Discover more

Ivan Krusenstern (1770–1846) is a Russian geographer, sea explorer, admiral, and founding member of the Russian Geographical Society.

He was born not far from Revel (Tallinn). After finishing the school at the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin in Tallinn (also known as Dome Church) at the age of 14, he entered the Kronstadt Naval Cadet Corps. Krusenstern took part in the Russian-Swedish war of 1788–1790. In 1793–1799, he visited North and South America, Africa and Asia (India and China) together with a group of young promising Navy officers.

Upon returning home, he presented a plan of a round-the-world voyage and was appointed head of the first Russian circumnavigation of the world. The expedition set sail from Kronstadt on two ships Nadezhda and Neva in summer 1803. Besides the crew, the ships carried the Russian embassy to Japan headed by Nikolai Rezanov.

The goals of the circumnavigation, which finished in summer 1806, were to explore marine environment, verify maps, and conduct various research. Based on the results of the voyage, Ivan Krusenstern published its detailed account in three volumes 'Journey around the World in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806' and an atlas with numerous maps and prints.

After the circumnavigation, he was director of the Naval Cadet Corps for many years, prepared and published a fundamental cartographic work 'Atlas of the Southern Sea'.

Ivan Krusenstern made a huge contribution to the development of oceanography. His name was given to several geographical objects.

This material is courtesy of the Russian Geographical Society.