The market for Russian coins and medals, especially at the middle-to-lower end, remains weak.

Auction records at German firm Gorny & Mosch’s March 12 auction of Russian material bear this out. 

The firm on March 27 announced the sale results, stating in a press release that, “The prices realized bear witness to the fact that the [ruble] has significantly fallen in value against the euro. Mainly the coins and medals in the low and mid-range price segment have lost a number of buyers.”

This presents an advantage for buyers at the moment, according to the firm. 

“When was the last time a bronze medal with the portrait of Peter I on the Battle of Poltava ... was available for [a] mere 300 euros?” the firm asked in the press release.

The medal in question, a restrike of a 1709 medal for the battle, was graded Extremely Fine to Brilliant Uncirculated by the firm. It realized a hammer price of €300 (about $319 in U.S. funds).

That compares to an EF example sold by Sincona in an Oct. 24, 2011, auction, which hammered for 700 Swiss francs ($763 U.S.) and an Uncirculated example sold by Heritage Auctions on Sept. 21, 2008, for a hammer price of $1,000 (buyer’s fees vary so hammer prices were used here). 

There were some exceptions to the weak market at the March 12 auction, like an 1889 silver ruble struck in the St. Petersburg Mint and graded BU that hammered at €26,000 ($27,641 U.S.), or nearly four times its €7,500 ($7,973) estimate. However, many “big rarities” did not reach their estimate or were unsold, the firm reported. 

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