Obverse. Mint master mark: ФБ. Photo © RARITETUS.ru
  • 5 Kopecks 1859-1860, Y# 19.1, Russia, Empire, Alexander II, Mint master mark: ФБ
  • 5 Kopecks 1859-1860, Y# 19.1, Russia, Empire, Alexander II, Mint mark: С.П.Б. (Saint Petersburg Mint)
  • 5 Kopecks 1859-1860, Y# 19.1, Russia, Empire, Alexander II, No mint master mark
  • 5 Kopecks 1859-1860, Y# 19.1, Russia, Empire, Alexander II, Edge
Description

Alexander II (1818-1881) was the Emperor of Russia from 1855 until his assassination in 1881. He was also the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland. Alexander was the most successful Russian reformer since Peter the Great. His most important achievement was the emancipation of serfs in 1861, for which he became known as Alexander the Liberator. In foreign policy, Alexander sold Alaska to the United States in 1867. Among his greatest domestic challenges was an uprising in Poland in 1863, to which he responded by stripping that land of its separate Constitution and incorporating it directly into Russia.

Obverse

Displays the Lesser Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire - a two-headed eagle crowned with two imperial crowns, over which the same third crown, enlarged, with two flying ends of the ribbon of the Order of Saint Andrew. The State Eagle held a scepter and globus cruciger. On the chest of the eagle there was an escutcheon with the arms of Moscow, depicting Saint George, mounted and defeating the dragon. The Lesser Coat of Arms depicts the imperial double-headed eagle with the addition of the collar of the Order of Saint Andrew around the escutcheon of St. George, and the Arms of Astrakhan, Siberia, Georgia, Finland, Kiev-Vladimir-Novgorod, Taurica, Poland and Kazan on the wings (seen clockwise).

The globus cruciger (Latin, "cross-bearing orb"), also known as the orb and cross, an orb (Latin globus) topped (Latin gerere, to wear) by a cross (Latin crux), has been a Christian symbol of authority since the Middle Ages, used on coins, in iconography, and with the sceptre as royal regalia.

Order of St. Andrew was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great, in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia.

Mint master mark: ФБ — Fedor Blum.

Ф Б

Reverse

Denomination 5 Kopecks flanked by stars, date and the mint mark in the center. Wreath of laurel (victory) and oak (strength) around. Russian imperial crowns on the top.

Mint mark: С.П.Б. — Saint Petersburg Mint.

* 5 *
КОПѢЕКЪ
1859
С.П.Б.

Edge

Dotted line

Characteristics
Material Silver
Fineness 0.868
Weight 1.04 g
Diameter 15 mm
Thickness 0.57 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mint
Saint Petersburg Mint (SPMD)

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