Alexander II (Aleksandr Nikolaevic)

1818-1881
EMPEROR OF ALL RUSSIA 1855-1881

Eldest son of Emperor Nicholas I, Alexander was born in Moscow on April 17, 1818, and came to the throne on February 19, 1855, after the death of his father. He was crowned in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on August 26, 1856.

After his accession to the throne, Alexander II implemented important reforms, notably the abolition of serfdom, as well as changes in national, military and municipal organization. He also rethought foreign policy: Russia now refrained from overseas expansion and concentrated on strengthening its borders. In 1867, he sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United States. His greatest foreign policy achievement was the successful war of 1877-8 against the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the liberation of Bulgaria and annulment of the conditions of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, imposed after Russia's defeat in the Crimean War.

In 1841, Alexander II married Maria of Hessen-Darmstadt (Maria Alexandrovna). The marriage produced seven children.

On March 1, 1881, in St. Petersburg, he was mortally wounded by a bomb thrown by a student, I. Grinevitskii, a member of the revolutionary organization "The National Will.'' The Cathedral of the Resurrection on Blood was erected on the site of the murder. Alexander II was buried in the Cathedral of the St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

Biography and image from The Florida International Museum WWW exhibit
"The Treasures of the Czars"

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1/4 Kopeck (Polushka) (Cu) 1855 - 1860
Cu XVII

1/4 Kopeck (Polushka) (Cu) 1858 - 1867
Cu XVII

1/4 Kopeck (Polushka) (Cu) 1867 - 1881
Cu XIX

1/2 Kopeck (Denga) (Cu) 1855 - 1860
Cu XVII

1/2 Kopeck (Denga) (Cu) 1859 - 1867
Cu XVII

1/2 Kopeck (Denga) (Cu) 1867 - 1881
Cu XIX

1 Kopeck (Cu) 1855 - 1860
Cu XVII

1 Kopeck (Cu) 1858 - 1867
Cu XVII

1 Kopeck (Cu) 1867 - 1881
Cu XVIII

2 Kopecks (Cu) 1855 - 1860
Cu XVI

2 Kopecks (Cu) 1859 - 1867
Cu XVI

2 Kopecks (Cu) 1867 - 1881
Cu XVIII

3 Kopecks (Cu) 1855 - 1859
Cu XVII

3 Kopecks (Cu) 1859 - 1867
Cu XVII

3 Kopecks (Cu) 1867 - 1881
Cu XVIII

5 Kopecks (Cu) 1855 - 1859
Cu XVII

5 Kopecks (Ag) 1855 - 1858

5 Kopecks (Cu) 1859 - 1867
Cu XVI

5 Kopecks (Cu) 1867 - 1881
Cu XVIII

5 Kopecks (Ag) 1858 - 1881

a) 1858 - 1860   833
b) 1860 - 1866   720
c) 1867 - 1881   480

10 Kopecks (Ag) 1855 - 1858

10 Kopecks (Ag) 1858 - 1881

a) 1858 - 1860   833
b) 1860 - 1866   720
c) 1867 - 1881   480

15 Kopecks (Ag) 1860 - 1881

a) 1860 - 1866   720
b) 1867 - 1881   480

20 Kopecks (Ag) 1855 - 1858

20 Kopecks (Ag) 1858 - 1881

a) 1858 - 1860   833
b) 1860 - 1866   720
c) 1867 - 1881   480

25 Kopecks (Ag) 1855 - 1858

25 Kopecks (Ag) 1858 - 1880

a) 1858 - 1866   833
c) 1867 - 1880   720

50 Kopecks (Ag) 1855 - 1858

50 Kopecks (Ag) 1858 - 1881

1 Rouble (Ag) 1855 - 1858

1 Rouble (Ag) 1858 - 1881

1 Rouble (Ag) 1859

3 Roubles (Au) 1869 - 1881

5 Roubles (Au) 1855 - 1858

5 Roubles (Au) 1859 - 1881