Watch List notes:

RUSSIAN MEDALS. Russian Émigrés in Exile. MEDALS OF THE CIRCLE / SOCIETY OF AMATEURS OF THE RUSSIAN MILITARY PAST. Russia. Tea Brick Money. 9 3/8 x 7 3/8, and ¾ inch thick. Within circle at upper center: crossed anchors, circle with diagonal line and TOPГOBЫЙ ЗHAKЪ ('Trade seal') below. At bottom, in an inset rectangle, the legend 'ЧИСТЫЙ ЦЕЙЛОНСКIЙ.' ('Pure Ceylon') is inscribed in two lines in a cartouche flanked by raised disks with the Chinese character Tai at left, xien at right. Eight-segment back, each with the crossed anchor symbol flanked by '50' in a triangle, six of the segments also have a circle with diagonal line. Very rare. Light chipping lower ends and some minor gritting on sides. Still very well preserved and Choice. Extremely fine For many centuries, Chinese tea was pressed into bricks in order to survive the long trek from China to eager markets in Russia. Because of the high value attached to tea in Asia, the tea bricks, over time, came to form a simple currency in China, Tibet, Mongolia and Central Asia. The nomads in Siberia and Mongolia, in fact, preferred it to metallic coin - - in Siberia, tea bricks were used as currency until the mid-1940's. Tea bricks were used as money, eaten as food in times of hunger and broken off and brewed as a medicine to treat coughs and colds. By the late 19th –early 20th Century, Russian companies began stamping tea bricks to be used as trade currency in their Asian endeavors, a practice which continued into the Soviet period. Their survival rate is quite low, and whole bricks are very rare and greatly prized.

Estimate: $3000