St. Petersburg Mint and its history

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

One of the hallmarks of St. Petersburg is rightfully considered its mint - one of the most famous in the world. Founded in 1724, over time it became the largest producer of coins - including gold and silver, orders, insignia and other non-ferrous metal products. The St. Petersburg Mint is among the first industrial enterprises founded in the Northern Capital.

Mint on the Neva

Among the historical documents of the Petrine era, the personal decree of the sovereign, dated December 12, 1724, has been preserved. In it, the highest commands on the territory of the recently built Peter and Paul Fortress to establish the minting of gold coins. The St. Petersburg Mint considers this date to be its birthday. It was then that Russian coins were first adorned with the abbreviation "SPB", so familiar to all coin collectors today and which, until 1914, became the hallmark of St. Petersburg coinage.

During the period since its founding, the company minted coins of various denominations of gold, platinum and silver. Also performedindividual overseas orders. These include the production of Dutch ducats in 1768-1769 and Turkish piastres between 1808 and 1809. Since 1833, the production of Russian coins was launched, which had a double Russian-Polish denomination. The issue of such coins continued until 1841.

Re-minting old and producing new coins

When the production of the next types of coins was established at the peripheral mints, such as Tauride (in Feodosia), Suzun (in Siberia) and Tiflis, their trial series were produced, as a rule, on the banks of the Neva. Here, in 1911, trial nickel coins were minted. The development of the technology for their manufacture was carried out directly in the laboratory of the Mint.

It is known that from 1762 to 1796, coins were repeatedly re-coined in Russia, that is, giving previously minted coins a different image using a new stamp. This was due to economic reasons. For the implementation of the program, the St. Petersburg Mint was chosen as the most suitable in terms of its technical capabilities.

Due to the rather high technological level of production, queen cells were often made here - stamps with a relief image for domestic mints, as well as for a number of foreign enterprises that signed contracts with the Russian government.

Production of award badges

In addition to the listed products, the St. Petersburg Mint has beenperformed work on the production of medals and orders. This constituted a separate and very important direction of his activity. Such production presents a certain complexity, as it requires both a high technological and artistic level of performance. History has preserved many of the names of outstanding medal artists of past centuries.

Scientific research in the laboratory of the enterprise

The Mint also has a great merit in the development of domestic science and technology. Back in the middle of the 18th century, scientific work began on the separation of precious metals within its walls. The names of well-known Russian inventors, such as A. K. Nartov, I. A. Schlatter, P. G. Sobolevsky and B. S. Yakobi, are closely associated with them. Their activities had a great influence on the progress of Russian technology in the 18th-19th centuries.

In the period from 1876 to 1942, the main place of issue of all types of coins, medals and orders was the St. Petersburg Mint, the sign of which can be seen on most products of that time. In his laboratory, unique technologies related to the melting of enamels were developed, and mass production of orders and medals was introduced in the production shops.

The Mint during the war years

When the war began in 1941, a significant part of the enterprise's equipment was evacuated to the rear and placed in Krasnokamsk, in the shops of the Goznak paper mill. There, for its installation and adjustment, forty qualifiedspecialists.

This is all that the besieged city could help, since the bulk of its workers were at the front or fought in the militia units. During the war, when the need for orders and medals was very high, the Krasnokamsk mint was unable to fully satisfy it. In this regard, the government decided to establish a mint in Moscow, on the territory of a printing factory.

The oldest enterprise of Goznak

Today, the St. Petersburg Mint, the hallmark of which is represented on many modern coins and orders, is part of the Russian Goznak association.

In recent years, the range of products manufactured in it has significantly expanded, since along with state orders, private orders are also carried out, coming both from individuals and from various commercial structures. The abbreviation SPMD (St. Petersburg Mint) is also well known to all collectors whose passion is collecting coins.