Rylov, Ivan I. and Sobolin, Vladimir I. Russian and Soviet Coins. AO "Interprint," Moscow, 1993. xx + 284 pages, illustrated in text. 17 by 24 cm. Hardbound. Print run: 50,000. Bilingual (Russian and English)
Russian and Soviet Coins by Ivan I. Rylov and Vladimir I. Sobolin, was published in early 1993 at Moscow in an edition of 50,000. It is bilingual, with most of the Russian text being translated for the benefit of the non-Russian specialist.
This book is the most ambitious effort yet to come out of the thaw that began in the latter days of the USSR and has continued in the new Russia. The book had apparently been planned for publication in 1992 but, as with all such ventures today, there were unexpected delays in printing and binding. There are 304 pages and the space is well used to present the coinage of Russia since 1700. It is heavily illustrated.
The book is especially important as it marks the transition of Russian numismatics to market-driven values on a broad scale. The Moscow Numismatic Society and Miniatura, have been presenting values for Soviet coins, but this is the first comprehensive catalog in the Russian language since the pre-revolutionary efforts of Giel, Ilyin, and Tolstoy. The catalogue itself is broken down by denomination and then by date, a familiar concept to American collectors, but somewhat new to Russia as the traditional catalogs have been done on a date basis, and then by denomination. (The Severin catalogs for gold and silver use this traditional arrangement.)
Not only is the regular Russian and Soviet coinage cataloged, but that of peripheral areas as well, including Czarist Poland, Finland, Siberia, Moldavia-Wallachia, etc. The authors also include Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, which will cause a minor amount of controversy as these were independent countries between the wars and had little to do with the Soviet Union.
Virtually every date is listed for the coinage with one major exception, that of Siberia. The coins are lumped into date runs, such as the 1768-1779 five kopeks. This may indicate that present-day collectors in Russia are more interested in type coins for the Siberian issues rather than dates. In the platinum series some dates are skipped for pricing, but with a general notation of their extreme rarity.
The first 20 or so pages of the book present an English, and then a Russian, background discussion of various coinages. Some parts of the Russian material are not translated and are meant specifically for Soviet collectors. The latter includes more specialized information on modern Soviet novodels. There is also a discussion of the meaning of the various grades (conditions) of coins.
For most of the coins prior to 1920, prices are given for three grades of condition (good, fine, and extremely fine) while coinage produced after that date is generally priced in extremely fine only. Prices are in rubles and dollars, the latter obtained by using the various world coin catalogs now being published, especially the Krause-Mishler Standard Catalog of World Coins. The declining value of Russian currency no doubt persuaded the authors that some sort of fixed value was necessary.
It is inevitable that a comparison will be made with the books available on modern Western coinages, especially that of the United States. The Rylov-Sobolin book may be loosely equated with the Wayte Raymond standard U.S. catalogs of the 1930s although it is evident from the amount of labor that went into the Russian work that within a matter of years, perhaps three or four, this kind of catalog will be close to the current Whitman Redbook.
The Rylov-Sobolin text was done on a typewriter and then reduced in size, but it is still easy to read and this is probably the only way that it could have been published. The pre-Soviet material follows rather closely the guidelines established in the Uzdenikov work (Russian Coins 1700-1917) although the new book does not always agree with his rarities. This is unfortunate, as in a few cases they have gotten the rarities wrong where Uzdenikov clearly has them right. One such instance is the silver ruble of 1908, a rare coin priced, in rubles, at barely over the relatively common 1910 issue (6000 rubles in EF for 1908 as compared to 5000 for 1909). A similar example is the rare 1882-DS 15 kopeks, valued at not all that much above the 1882-NF, 500 rubles in EF versus 300 rubles. (It should be remembered that the ruble values themselves are meaningless at present and it is the relative values that are important.)
It is in the Soviet era that most of the new and really interesting material is to be found. The authors have clearly gone to some lengths to seek out as many as possible of the novodels and mules of the past seven decades and there are quite a few of them, especially in the 1930s. The varieties of the 1970s and 1980s are also quite interesting and well worth the attention of those who collect in this area.
The Olympic coins of 1977-1980 are covered in great detail and it is the first list seen by this reviewer which breaks down the uncirculated and proof issues by mint. The modern NCLT issues are well cataloged.
The Rylov-Sobolin book does not list patterns, but they do list the great rarities of the regular series. Novodels are not cataloged, although it is stated, on page viii, that "they are easy enough to identify," a comment which is open to question, especially for the silver coinage of 1750-1850. Mintage figures are provided, but they are mostly taken from Krause-Mishler except for modern Soviet commemoratives. It is to be hoped that this book will spur research into the archives so that missing figures, both czarist and Soviet, will be published.
Although there are minor problems, the authors are to be congratulated for this successful pioneering effort. One hopes that the Rylov-Sobolin work will serve as the start of a long line of catalogs covering a field of coinage which is of world-wide interest.
Note: since the above review was written in 1993, later editions have appeared, in the same format.