Description

During the Russo-Turkish war (1768-74) a special coinage was made for the area, also known as Sadagura coins, the first commune coins for Moldavia and Wallachia principalities. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army the Field-Marshal Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky took measures to enhance the economic and monetary system in the principalities. Therefore, a mint was established in Sadagura (a town in the Bukovina region) by the adventurer baron Nicolaus Gartenberg. For these coins the bronze from captured Turkish cannons was used.

Catherine II of Russia, also known as Catherine the Great (1729-1796), was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia, reigning from 1762 until her death in 1796 at the age of 67. Born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, she came to power following a coup d'état when her husband, Peter III, was assassinated. Russia was revitalised under her reign, growing larger and stronger than ever and becoming recognised as one of the great powers of Europe. The period of Catherine the Great's rule, the Catherinian Era, is often considered the Golden Age of the Russian Empire and the Russian nobility.