Russian 5 Kopeks 1998

In 1998, amid Russia's rouble devaluation and default, the 5 kopeks coin kept circulating without design changes, a mundane fixture in a collapsing economy.

This coin, struck at the Saint Petersburg mint, features a simple steel composition—copper-plated, to be precise—and the standard double-headed eagle on the reverse. Weighing just 2.5 grams, it was intended for everyday transactions, though few transactions were happening. Production numbers? Lost in the haze of post-Soviet record-keeping; we might never know exactly how many were made.

Design-wise, it's straightforward: the obverse shows the denomination and year, nothing flashy. As for myths about hidden value, I've heard them all over thirty years. They don't hold up.

Some collectors note the irony of a coin that barely held its metal worth outlasting the financial system that issued it.