Catherine I 10 Kopeks

Catherine I's 10 kopeks coins were among the first Russian issues to feature a female ruler's portrait, a nod to her unlikely rise from Baltic peasant to empress.

Struck at the St. Petersburg mint from .728 fine silver, these pieces followed Peter the Great's decimal reforms, with each coin weighing around 2.34 grams and measuring 24 millimeters across. The obverse showed Catherine's bust, while the reverse bore the imperial double-headed eagle—simple, functional designs for a turbulent era.

Mintage figures remain murky; records from that period were likely destroyed in later fires or upheavals. As for the coins themselves, they're often found in worn condition, reflecting years of circulation in a cash-strapped empire.

Some specimens turn up with overstrikes from earlier issues, a reminder that recycling metal was common back then. You might call it early recycling, though I wouldn't push the environmental angle.