Nicholas I 5 Roubles

The Nicholas I 5 rouble gold coin was struck to the same weight and fineness as the French 20 franc piece, a deliberate move to ease trade across Europe during his reign.

This made it a practical currency for an empire stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific. The coin features Nicholas I's portrait on the obverse, flanked by his name and title, while the reverse shows the imperial eagle with the denomination. Crafted from gold sourced mainly from Russian mines, it maintained a fineness of about 91.7 percent, weighing roughly 4.266 grams. Mintage figures vary by year, but records from some periods are spotty due to archival losses.

One oddity: the coin's edge is reeded, which might have deterred clipping but didn't stop counterfeiters entirely. As for its survival, many ended up in foreign vaults, a quieter fate than the emperor's turbulent rule.