1705 Poltina

The 1705 Poltina was among the first Russian coins to feature the double-headed eagle, a design Peter the Great borrowed from Western heraldry to assert his reforms.

This silver half-ruble, weighing roughly 13.5 grams, was struck at the Moscow Mint using metal from uncertain sources—perhaps Siberian mines or melted foreign coins. The obverse shows Peter's monogram, while the reverse includes the eagle and the year in Arabic numerals, a rare innovation for the era. Mintage records vanished in the 1838 fire that consumed imperial archives, so precise numbers remain a mystery.

Edge lettering on some specimens is crude, reflecting the haste of early 18th-century production. As for myths about its supposed links to naval victories, let's just say not every coin doubled as a battle flag.