POLTINNIK: COIN OF SOVIET UNION
Poltinnik, 1924: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
A Soviet blacksmith with a sledgehammer in his hands works at the anvil; next to it are tools made by him (a symbolic composition as a symbol of the declared course of intensive industrialization of the USSR).
1924.
ОДИН ПОЛТИННИК: one poltinnik.
ПРОЛЕТАРИИ ВСЕХ СТРАН, СОЕДИНЯЙТЕСЬ!: Workers of the world, unite! (the political slogan — one of the rallying cries from "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; the essence of the slogan is that members of the working classes throughout the world should cooperate to defeat capitalism and achieve victory in the class conflict).
СССР: USSR.
State Emblem of the Soviet Union (Sickle and a hammer on a globe depicted in the rays of the sun and framed by ears of wheat, with the inscription "Proletarians of the world, unite!" in six languages — Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani. At the top of the Emblem is a five-pointed star).
The inscription on the edge of the coin: "ЧИСТОГО СЕРЕБРА 9 ГРАММ (2 З. 10,5 Д.) - П•Л". This means: "PURE SILVER 9 GRAMS (2 Z. 10,5 D. or 2 zolotnik + 10,5 dolya)" — zolotnik = 4.26575417 g, dolya = 44.435 mg. П•Л — "P•L" (initials of Leningrad Mint master Pyotr Latyshev).
Leningrad Mint (nowadays — Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation).
Mintage: 26.559.000.
- Silver (0.900): 27 mm - 9.98 g
- Reference price: 14$
COIN POLTINNIK — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- RUSSIA (17th-20th centuries) — TSARDOM OF RUSSIA (1654) + SOVIET UNION (1924-1927): poltinnik = 50 kopeck = 1/2 ruble
POLTINNIK as coin name.
Poltinnik (Russian "Полтинник"): in the broadest sense, it is a Russian coin equal to half a ruble or, respectively, 50 kopecks. It was issued under different names by the Tsardom of Muscovy, Russian Empire, RSFSR, USSR, Russian Federation...
According to historical data, the concept of "poltina" (the prototype of "poltinnik") has been used since the Middle Ages. The ancient silver hryvnia was divided into two halves — rubles, each of which, in turn, consisted of two poltinas. Later, 100 denga coins (or 50 kopecks; 1 kopeck = 2 denga) were also called poltina.
But, in fact, the first such coin (not a conventional concept) appeared only in the second half of the 17th century.
Directly, "poltinnik" (not "poltina" or "50 kopecks") in numismatics can formally be considered only 2 types of coins: the now rare copper, quite large (up to 20 grams), the "poltinnik" of 1654 by Tsar Alexei I Mikhailovich Romanov and the silver Soviet "poltinnik" of 1924-1927, which is in the collection of almost every Ukrainian numismatist.
In the times of the Russian Empire, a silver poltina coin was minted regularly, which at the end of the 19th century was transformed into "50 копѣекъ" (1921-1922 — "50 копеек", new Russian spelling).
During 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, the well-known poltinnik of the USSR was released in a large mintage: an almost 10-gram silver coin (900th grade silver) with the image of a working blacksmith and an early coat of arms of the Soviet Union. The coin of 1924 is the most common (the initials of the mint masters are indicated on the band: "PL" — Pyotr Latyshev /Leningrad Mint, Russia/ or "TR" — Thomas Ross /Birmingham Mint, England/). On the coins of 1925-1927, the sign "PL" is found exclusively.
It is known about the existence of a large number of types of Soviet poltinnik, which differ from each other in barely noticeable details. The total four-year mintage exceeded the mark of 130.000.000 coins.
From 1961 to 1991 copper-nickel Soviet exchange coins of 50 kopecks were issued. In everyday life they were often called poltinnik. Coins of this denomination were also minted in modern Russia. However, due to their low purchasing power, the following situation arose: the people began to call 50-ruble banknotes as poltinnik.
Regarding the appearance of the coin name poltinnik, not everything is clear. It is quite likely that the term comes from the concept of "tyn" (Russian "тин"; or rather, we are talking about half of this value).
What is "tyn" in this context? — On the one hand: money/coins were called that among Turkic peoples (in ancient times, before the appearance of the first coins, — squirrel skin was used as a means of carrying out commodity-money relations). On the other hand, there is a more "convenient" version: this is what the ruble was called (from "tynat" /Russian "тинать"/ — to chop, cut off: the ruble is a part of the ancient hryvnia).
By the way, in the modern Ukrainian language, the verb "to cut off" (Ukrainian "відтинати") is widely used.
