Watch List notes:

RUSSIAN EMPIRE: Catherine II, the Great, 1762-1796, 5 kopeks, 1787/77-EM, Cr-59a, Brekke-6, Bitkin-1294, Swedish issue and a superb quality example! NGC graded EF45 BR. During the war between Russia and Sweden in 1788, the Swedish government began to strike copies of the current 5 kopek coin at the Avesta mint using a Royal instead of Imperial crown design. Several dates are known. A common way to distinguish the Swedish imitations from the original is to note that "kopek" is spelled with a Ь as a last letter rather than Ъ as found on the genuine issue. Another sign is the 7's in the date which are straight on the Swedish piece and are curved on the Russian originals. Gustav III of Sweden had these produced for distribution to his troops for use in occupied Russian and border regions. The Swedes claimed that they had captured the copper coins from Russian ships. In fact, the Swedish 5 kopek coins were barely distinguishable from the Russian for the general public. If one compares the Russian with the Swedish coinage, one immediately notices the straight, upright style of the numerals in the coins from Avesta. All Swedish 5 kopek pieces were struck in 1776 at Avesta. So that they did not immediately attract attention in Russian payments, the pieces were coined with different dates (1764, 1778, 1787).

Estimate: 7,000-9,000 USD