Russian 10 Kopeks 1995

The 1995 Russian 10 kopeks coin was struck entirely from steel, a cost-cutting measure during the country's economic freefall after the Soviet collapse. That shift meant coins once made of copper-nickel now felt more like industrial scrap in your palm.

Weighing in at about 1.95 grams and measuring 17.5 millimeters across, it features a simple design: the double-headed eagle on one side, the denomination on the other. Most were minted in Yekaterinburg, though exact figures are murky—records from that era weren't always reliable.

It's a plain little piece, unadorned and functional, much like the currency reforms that birthed it. If you handle one, note the faint ridges around the edge; they're there to deter counterfeiting, though in 1995, most people had bigger worries.

Plenty of these turn up in circulation even today, a testament to their durability if not their allure.