1767 Catherine II Ducat

The 1767 Catherine II ducat was struck as a direct imitation of the Dutch ducat, allowing Russian merchants to trade seamlessly in European markets without raising suspicions.

This gold coin, weighing about 3.5 grams, featured a simple design: the Russian imperial eagle on one side and the denomination on the other. No portraits here; Catherine preferred to keep things understated for trade purposes. The minting occurred in St. Petersburg, using techniques borrowed from the West to ensure consistency.

Records from that era are spotty. We know production ramped up during her reign, but exact mintage figures vanished in various upheavals, including the 1812 fire in Moscow.

One oddity: some specimens show faint die cracks, a testament to the haste of production. As if the coin itself was in a rush to join the global economy.