1 Kopeck, Russian Empire, 1915

This copy

Accession

OM-00213

Series year

1915

Actually issued

1915

Signatures

This issue carries no bank manager or cashier signature.

Grade

VF (IBNS)

Clean, light handling, card stock sound. Estimated from the archival scan. Folds, soiling and edge condition are visible at this resolution; paper crispness, pinholes, small repairs and pressing are not.

Estimated value

$4 indicative

Category benchmark scaled for grade — an order of magnitude, not an appraisal. Priced 2026-09-07.

Dimensions

79.8 × 45.6 mm (±0.5, from the scan)

The type

Type

1 Kopeck, Russian Empire, 1915

Printer

Not established

Rarity

very common

Inscriptions

Obverse — what it stands for

Имѣетъ хожденіе наравнѣ съ мѣдной монетой

Circulates on a par with copper coin

Symbology

Imperial eagle in miniature

The full crowned arms reduced to a stamp-sized vignette, printed on card rather than banknote paper.

What was happening

A postage-stamp design pressed into service as coin. From 1915 the Treasury printed the small denominations on card, using the plates cut for the Romanov tercentenary stamps, and told the public plainly what they were: these circulate on a par with copper coin.

Metal had vanished from circulation almost as soon as the war began - hoarded for its intrinsic value the moment the currency looked shaky. These are the first visible step of the imperial monetary collapse: not inflation yet, just the quiet disappearance of anything worth melting.

This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 1 Kopeck, Russian Empire, 1915 in the collection.