Obverse. Photo © Monetnik.ru
  • 50 Kopecks 1991, Y# 292, Russia, Soviet Union (USSR)
  • 50 Kopecks 1991, Y# 292, Russia, Soviet Union (USSR)
Description

In late 1991, a new coinage was introduced. The series depicts an image of the Kremlin on the obverse rather than the Soviet state emblem. However, this coin series was extremely short-lived as the Soviet Union ceased to exist only months after its release.

This last Soviet edition has a nickname "GKChP coins". GKChP was the abbreviation for State Committee on the State of Emergency. It was a group of eight high-level Soviet officials within the Soviet government, the Communist Party, and the KGB, who attempted a coup d'état against Mikhail Gorbachev on 19 August 1991. The coup ultimately failed, with the provisional government collapsing by 22 August 1991. GKChP had nothing to do with this coins issue.

Obverse

Kremlin Senate and Spasskaya tower of the Moscow Kremlin in the centre. Around it the semicircular inscription: State Bank of the USSR.

The Kremlin Senate is a building within the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia. Initially constructed from 1776 to 1787, it originally housed the Moscow branch of the Governing Senate, the highest judiciary and legislative office of Imperial Russia. Currently, it houses the Russian presidential administration.

The Moscow Kremlin is a fortified complex at the heart of Moscow. It is the best known of the kremlins (Russian citadels) and includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. The complex serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The name Kremlin means "fortress inside a city", and is often also used as a metonym to refer to the government of the Russian Federation. The existing Kremlin walls and towers were built by Italian masters over the years 1485 to 1495.

The Spasskaya Tower is the main tower with a through-passage on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, which overlooks the Red Square. The clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared between 1491 and 1585. It is usually referred to as the Kremlin chimes and designates official Moscow Time. In 1935, the Soviet government installed a red star instead of a two-headed eagle on top of the Spasskaya Tower. The height of the tower with the star is 71 m.

State Bank of the USSR (Gosbank) was the central bank of the Soviet Union and the only bank whatsoever in the entire Union from the 1930s to 1987.

ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ БАНК
· СССР ·

Reverse

Value, flanked by a spike of wheat left and twig of oak right, above the mintmark (Л, Leningrad Mint) and date.

50
КОПЕЕК
Л
1991

Edge

50 Kopecks

Gosbank Issue, GKChP
Y# 292 Schön# 249
Characteristics
Material Cupronickel
Weight 2.2 g
Diameter 18 mm
Thickness 1.25 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Leningrad Mint (LMD)

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