1922 Soviet 25 Kopeks

This 1922 Soviet 25 Kopeks coin was struck at the Leningrad Mint using copper-nickel blanks, a practical choice amid the post-civil war scrap metal shortages.

That alloy, a holdover from tsarist times, helped the new regime issue coins quickly to replace worthless ruble notes. The design features a simple wreath and the denomination, with the hammer and sickle on the reverse—a blunt nod to industrial might.

We don't know the exact mintage figures; records from that chaotic era are spotty at best. What survives shows these pieces circulated heavily, their edges often worn from daily use in a struggling economy.

Some claim these coins foretold Soviet glory, but that's just propaganda. They were currency, plain and simple.