Coin Pièce Russian Federation 20 kopeks Silver Nicolas II 1907 Saint-Petersbourg

This 20 kopeks coin was issued in Imperial Russia in 1907, during the reign of Nicholas II, the last tsar of the Romanov dynasty. It was struck at the Saint Petersburg Mint, identifiable by the mintmark SPB inscribed on the coin, an acronym of the city's name in Russian (Sankt Peterburg).

The obverse of the coin features the portrait of Nicholas II or, depending on the issues of this period, the double-headed imperial eagle, the traditional heraldic emblem of the Russian Empire. This crowned two-headed eagle is a recurring and iconic motif in Tsarist Russian numismatics. The reverse indicates the face value of 20 kopeks along with the year of minting, surrounded by ornaments characteristic of the issues of that era.

The coin is struck in 500 millesimal fineness silver, an alloy composed of 50% fine silver, which was the standard for ruble subdivisions of this denomination during the Imperial era. It has a weight of 3.57 grams and a diameter of 22 millimetres, technical characteristics precisely defined by the Russian monetary standards of the time.

This 1907 issue has a mintage of 20,000,000 specimens, a figure reflecting the high circulation of this denomination in the Russian economy of the early 20th century. The 20 kopeks coins were indeed common currency, widely used in the everyday transactions of the Empire.

This coin belongs to the final years of an empire undergoing profound change, a time marked by the political and social tensions that would lead to the Revolution of 1917 and the end of the Romanov monarchy.