Commemorative and Investment Coins of the Bank of Russia
Within the framework of its emission activities, the Bank of Russia issues commemorative coins made of precious and non precious metals as well as investment ones made of precious metals, which are distributed inside and outside the country. The Bank of Russia has been engaged in this work since its founding in 1992 (previously, in 1965 — 1991 commemorative and investment coins were issued by the State Bank of the USSR).
In recent years coins of historical and sport series, long-term programmes such as “Outstanding Personalities of Russia”, “Architectural Monuments of Russia”, “Russia in the UNESCO World Culture and Nature Heritage”, “Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”, “Red Data Book”, “Protect Our World”, “The Lunar Calendar” and the others predominate in the coin’s issues of the Bank of Russia.
For
the first time in 1996 Russian citizens were offered investment coins on
domestic market: a gold uncirculated Chervonets coin of
According to the decision of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia, taken on March 5, 2001, the gold uncirculated Chervonets coin and the silver one “Sable” are circulating on the territory of the Russian Federation as legal tender equally with new coins put into circulation from January 1, 1998.
In February 2006 a new gold investment coin featuring the Saint Georges the Victorious and in 2009 an analogues one from silver coin has been issued by the Bank of Russia.
Detailed information about coins issued in 1992 and later is available in the Commemorative Coins database.
The coins of the Bank of Russia are struck in the Moscow and St. Petersburg mints and have a high artistic standard and perfect striking quality. They are popular in Russia and abroad, some of them repeatedly took prizes due to opinion polls which used to be held by specialised foreign numismatic publications and organizations.
The Bank of Russia`s commemorative and investment coins are distributed on the domestic market by credit institutions of the Russian Federation and the federal state unitary enterprise "Goznak“.The Bank of Russia sells its coins on a wholesale basis in lots comprising complete standard packages of the Mints. Credit institutions with extensive regional branch network and “Goznak” are favored to be the main distributors of the commemorative coins in Russia