The Russian George the Victorious (russian: монета Георгий Победоносец) is a bullion coin issued in gold and silver by the Central Bank of Russia. Mintage began in 2006 with quarter-troy ounce (7.78g) gold coins with a

face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Howe ...

of 50 rubles and later in 2009 a one-troy ounce silver coin was introduced with a face value of 3 rubles. Since then, tenth, half, and one-troy ounce gold coins have been minted.

Background

Saint George was a Roman soldier and a member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

who died in 303 AD. He was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He was a

Great Martyr A great martyr (also spelled greatmartyr or great-martyr) or megalomartyr (from Byzantine Greek , , from , 'great' + , 'martyr'; cu, великомꙋ́ченикъ; ro, mare mucenic; ka, დიდმოწამე) is a classification of s ...

for the Eastern Orthodox Church and a highly revered saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches. He is the patron saint for Moscow, England, Georgia, and Ethiopia. The legend of

Saint George and the Dragon In a legend, Saint Georgea soldier venerated in Christianitydefeats a dragon. The story goes that the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers. When they ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving up a human tr ...

tells the story of Saint George slaying a dragon and saving a princess that was going to be sacrificed to the dragon. Images and sculptures of the legend have been produced since at least the 11th century. The reverses of the coins have an image of Saint George slaying the dragon, as does the

British sovereign coin The sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of one pound sterling (£1) and contains 0.2354 troy oz of pure gold. Struck since 1817, it was originally a circulating coin that was accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the world; ...

Design

The coin was designed and sculpted by A. V. Baklanov and

minted Minted is an online marketplace of premium design goods created by independent artists and designers. The company sources art and design from a community of more than 16,000 independent artists from around the world. Minted offers artists two bus ...

at the Saint Petersburg Mint and the Moscow Mint. The 2006-2016 obverse features the emblem of the Central Bank of Russia—a double-headed eagle with wings down. This emblem was the same one used by the Russian Republic in 1917. Both obverses are inscribed with "БАНК РОССИИ" (Bank of Russia), "ПЯТЬДЕСЯТ РУБЛЕЙ" (Fifty rubles), indications of the precious metal content and its fineness, and the year of issue followed by the mint mark. M is the mint mark for the Moscow Mint and C-П is for the St. Petersburg Mint. From 2017 forward, The double-headed eagle version was replaced with the current

Coat of arms of Russia The coat of arms of Russia derives from the earlier coat of arms of the Russian Empire which was abolished with the Russian Revolution in 1917. Though modified more than once since the reign of Ivan III (1462–1505), the current coat of arms i ...

. The top of the coin is inscribed with "РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ" (Russian Federation). This version of the obverse was designed by E. V. Kramskaya.

Gold

Gold George the Victorious coins were first issued on February 1, 2006.

Gold in proof quality

In August 2012, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation issued two special coins under "Saint George the Victorious" title. One coin has denomination "50 rubles" minted in 99.9% purity, and contains not less than 7.78 grams of fine gold. Unlike traditional 50 rubles Saint George the Victorious, the coin is minted in proof quality. Another coin has "100 rubles" denomination, features 99.9% purity, contains not less than 15.55 gram of fine gold. The coin has the same design as 50 rubles Saint George the Victorious coins (except denomination on the obverse) but greater diameter and thickness. There are 240 corrugations on the edge of the coin (134 corrugations are on the edge of 50 rubles coins). The coin is also minted in proof quality. Higher prices (10-20% over uncirculated competitors of the same gold content), low mintages (10 thousand pieces of each denomination were issued) and a special care of proof coin handling turn Gold Saint George the Victorious in proof quality coins into numismatic items (commemorative coins) rather than means of a straightforward investment in gold coins.

Silver

Silver George the Victorious coins were first issued on January 11, 2009.

Notes