Obverse. Photo © Bank of Russia
  • 3 Rubles 2023, CBR# 5111-0486, Russia, Federation, Viktor Tsoi
  • 3 Rubles 2023, CBR# 5111-0486, Russia, Federation, Viktor Tsoi
Description

Viktor Robertovich Tsoi (1962–1990) was a Soviet singer and songwriter who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and musically influential bands in the history of Russian music.

Throughout his career, Tsoi contributed a plethora of musical and artistic works, including ten albums. After Kino appeared and performed in the 1987 Soviet film Assa, the band's popularity surged, triggering a period referred to as "Kinomania", and leading to Tsoi's leading role in the 1988 Kazakh new wave art film The Needle. In 1990, after their high-profile concert at the Luzhniki Stadium, Tsoi briefly relocated to Latvia with bandmate Yuri Kasparyan to work on the band's next album. Two months after the concert, Tsoi died in a car collision.

He is regarded as one of the most important pioneers of rock music in Russia and is credited with popularizing the genre throughout the Soviet Union. He retains a devoted following throughout the former Soviet Union, where he is known as one of the most influential and popular people in the history of Russian music.

Date of issue: 01.06.2023

Obverse

In the centre the relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation, above the semicircular inscription along the rim THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION framed on both sides by ornamental elements of doubled rhombuses, in the lower part of the disc, at the edge the horizontal inscription 3 RUBLES and the date 2023 under it, over it to the right the mint trade mark.

The two main elements of Russian state symbols (the two-headed eagle and the mounted figure slaying the dragon) predate Peter the Great. Today, however, the official description does not refer to the rider on the central shield as representing Saint George, mainly in order to maintain the secular character of the modern Russian state. The imperial crowns on each head stand for the unity and sovereignty of Russia, both as a whole and in its constituent republics and regions. The orb and scepter grasped in the eagle's talons are traditional heraldic symbols of sovereign power and authority. They have been retained in the modern Russian arms despite the fact that the Russian Federation is not a monarchy.

Artist: E. V. Kramskaya
Sculptor: A. A. Dolgopolova

РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ
Ag 925 31,1
СПМД
БАНК РОССИИ
3 РУБЛЯ
2023 г.

Reverse

Depicts a portrait of Viktor Tsoi holding a microphone against the background of an image of a guitar with symbolic flames, laser treated for matte finishing, the relief inscription VIKTOR TSOI on the left around the circumference, and the years of his birth and death ‘1962’ and ‘1990’ in two lines below.

Artist: S. V. Sutyagin
Sculptor: A. N. Bessonov

ВИКТОР ЦОЙ
1962
1990

Edge

300 corrugations

3 Rubles

Viktor Tsoi

CBR# 5111-0486
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Silver
Fineness 0.925
Weight 31.1 g
Diameter 39 mm
Thickness 3.3 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Saint Petersburg Mint (SPMD)

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