The 1924 silver rouble is the first great silver coin of the USSR — a worker guiding a peasant toward a factory sunrise on one side, the Soviet state emblem with the “Workers of the world, unite!” motto on the other. With a published mintage near 13 million, it’s common in worn grades but scarce in high grade. The entry covers the design, the edge inscription, and the mintmaster mark.
Key facts
- .900 silver, 20 g, 34 mm; 18 g pure silver (4 zolotniks, 21 dolyas per the edge inscription)
- Minted at the Leningrad (Petrograd) Mint, 1924; catalog reference KM 90.1 / Y# 90.1
- Published mintage ~12,998,000 (Standard Catalog of World Coins, 46th ed.)
- Edge inscription: “ЧИСТОГО СЕРЕБРА 18 ГРАММ (4 З. 21 Д.)” plus mintmaster initials П•Л (Pyotr Latyshev)
- Obverse (worker/farmer) and reverse (USSR arms with six ribbon ties, reflecting the six union republics then in the Union)