USSR 5 Kopeks 1990

The 1990 5 kopeks coin was one of the last pieces minted under Soviet authority, using copper-plated steel to cut costs amid the Union's unraveling economy.

That material switch happened because copper had become scarce, a direct result of the perestroika reforms and declining trade. The coin's design stuck to the familiar: a sheaf of wheat on the reverse, the state emblem on the obverse, all struck at the Leningrad Mint. Records from that year are spotty; exact production figures vanished with the USSR's archives.

Not every late Soviet coin survived circulation intact. This one, though, often turns up in decent shape, thanks to its brief service before the ruble's redesign. The edge is reeded, a minor detail that trips up beginners mistaking it for something rarer.

One oddity: collectors sometimes confuse it with earlier versions, but that's just the numismatic equivalent of déjà vu.