1801-СП AN Russian Empire Silver Rouble NGC AU-58 St. Petersburg Mint

This is a silver ruble of the Russian Empire dated 1801 from the St. Petersburg mint (CM), issued under Emperor Paul I and graded NGC AU 58. The side with the large cross (obverse) features a four-armed cross formed by the cipher of Paul I, with the date 1801 split around it, four imperial crowns at the extremities, and the surrounding Cyrillic legend “МОНЕТА РУБЛЬ.” The opposite side (reverse) shows a square tablet containing the biblical motto “НЕ НАМЪ, НЕ НАМЪ, А ИМЯНИ ТВОЕМУ” (“Not unto us, not unto us, but to Thy name”) within an ornate scrolled frame, with the mint master initials A•I (or similar) below. In condition, the coin displays sharp details with only the lightest friction on the highest points, strong original luster under even gray toning, and minimal marks, fully consistent with a high About Uncirculated grade. NGC has graded 129 coins overall, with 14 in this grade and 41 finer; highest is a sole MS-65.

Struck in the final year of Emperor Paul I’s short and turbulent reign (1796–1801), this ruble belongs to his distinctive “cross-and-motto” series that deliberately broke from the traditional double-eagle design used by his predecessors. Paul, son of Catherine the Great, sought to reverse many of her policies, impose strict military discipline, and emphasize religious piety; the prominent religious inscription on the reverse reflects his personal devotion and desire to place divine authority above imperial glory. These coins were produced only briefly before Paul’s assassination in a palace coup in March 1801, after which his son Alexander I restored the conventional eagle design, making the 1801 issues among the last and most characteristic of Paul’s short-lived numismatic legacy.