St. Petersburg Mint and its history

One of the business cards of St. Petersburg is considered to be its mint - one of the most famous in the world. Founded in 1724, it eventually became the largest producer of coins - including gold and silver, orders, decorations and other non-ferrous metal products. 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Among the historical documents of the Petrine era, there remained the nominal decree of the sovereign, dated December 12, 1724. In it, the highest is commanded in the territory of the newly built Peter and Paul Fortress to arrange the minting of gold coins. This date St. Petersburg Mint considers its birthday. It was then that the Russian coins were adorned for the first time with the abbreviation "SPB", which is so familiar to all collectors of coins today, and became, until 1914, a visiting card of the St. Petersburg coinage.

For the period that has passed since the day of its foundation, coins of various denominations of gold, platinum and silver were minted at the enterprise. Separate foreign orders were also carried out. These include the production of Dutch ducats in 1768-1769 and Turkish piasters in the period from 1808 to 1809. Since 1833, the production of Russian coins, which had a double Russian-Polish denomination of denomination, was established. The issue of such coins continued until 1841.

Recall old and new coins

When in the peripheral mints, such as the Tavrichesky (in Feodosiya), the Suzunsky (in Siberia) and the Tiflis, the production of the next types of coins was established, then their trial series were produced, as a rule, on the banks of the Neva. Here in 1911, trial coins from nickel were minted. The technology of their manufacture was developed directly in the mint laboratory.

It is known that from 1762 to 1796 in Russia the coins were minted repeatedly, that is, giving a previously minted coins a different image with the help of a new stamp. This was caused by economic reasons. To implement the program, the St. Petersburg Mint was chosen as the most suitable for its technical capabilities.

Thanks to a sufficiently high technological level of production, queen cups were often manufactured 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 premium signs

In addition to the above products, the St. Petersburg Mint for many years carried out work on the production of medals and orders. This was a separate and very important area of his activity. Such a production presents a certain complexity, since it requires simultaneously a high technological and artistic level of performance. History has preserved many of the names of outstanding medal artists of past centuries.

Scientific researches in the laboratory of the enterprise

The Mint also has great merit in the development of domestic science and technology. In the middle of the 18th century, scientific works on the division of precious metals began in its walls. The names of famous Russian inventors, such as AK Nartov, IA Schlatter, PG Sobolevsky and BS Yakobi, are closely related to them. Their activities had a great influence on the progress of Russian technology of the XVIII-XIX centuries.

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

Mint during the war years

When the war broke out in 1941, a significant part of the company's equipment was evacuated to the rear and stationed in Krasnokamsk, in the shops of the Goznak paper mill. Forty qualified specialists were sent from Leningrad to install it and set up it.

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

The oldest enterprise of Goznak

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

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