By carefully studying all the available coins for sale, it appears best opportunity for a decent choice. Many coins are distinguished by the presence of the abbreviation SPMD, as well as MMD. What are the differences? What is important to pay attention to when studying symbols?
SPMD and MMD coins: what are they?
- SPMD is a designation that indicates production in St. Petersburg.
- MMD indicates official release in Moscow.
SPMD and MMD coins: general information about the difference
SPMD is one of the most famous and largest institutions of this format in the whole world. It is planned to mint various commemorative and anniversary items, as well as ordinary products using precious metals. The main focus is initially on coins. In most cases, government orders are carried out.
Successful activities started in 1724, and currently glorify St. Petersburg throughout Russia and neighboring countries. Manufactured modern products are offered with the abbreviation SPMD, which is the main difference. Modern coins boast an abbreviation under the bird's right foot. Previously, coins were issued with other designations in the form of letters, and their number turns out to be quite large (7 options). 
MMD is one of the most famous manufacturers coins The company is engaged in minting coins, fulfilling orders from foreign countries and private customers. Products include investment, commemorative, and precious metals of interest to numismatists. The institution has been successfully operating since 1942. Moscow mint, like St. Petersburg, is a member of the state association "Gosznak", which corresponds to current situation On the market. However, on the manufactured products, under the eagle’s right paw, one can note the presence of the abbreviation MMD or M, which indicates a different manufacturing institution.
On penny coins, the abbreviations MMD, M are placed under the horse’s hoof. This rule applies to both mints. In addition, occasionally coins do not have any letter designation because they are defective items and cannot be valued at face value. 
SPMD and MMD coins: important differences
- SPMD coins are produced by the St. Petersburg plant, MMD by the Moscow plant.
- Old coins issued in St. Petersburg have different designations, despite the fact that Moscow products are presented in only two designations.
- The Moscow Mint performs only individual orders. At the same time, the St. Petersburg Mint operates only on the basis of government orders.
It is important to note that both institutions are not limited to just issuing coins, so the range of products is wide and varied.
Valuable coins MMD and SPMD
All numismatists know which items turn out to be the most valuable. In most cases, the following options are expected to be highly popular:
- SPMD 5 rubles (2003). The average cost is 6,000 rubles. The circulation is characterized by minimal volumes. The coin is made in regular design. Expect no wide edges, offset lettering, or unique patterns. The only difference is the manufacturer's abbreviation.
- MMD 1 ruble (1997). This version of the coin has a wide edge. In this case, the edge can be flat or protruding (steps on the reverse, as well as on the obverse). Flat products are less common. The cost is 5000 – 8000 rubles.
- 2 rubles (2003) SPMD. The limited edition led to a cost of 8,000 rubles.
- 1 ruble (2003) SPMD. The average price is 10 thousand rubles. Minimum circulation expected. As a result, the cost of coins significantly exceeds their face value.
- 1 ruble (2001) MMD. The coin is valued at 30 thousand rubles. In Russia, there are several design options in use. Despite the official release of everyday life, the appeal started. The number of pieces produced is unknown, but it indicates the rarity of the coin. The maximum cost for a product in perfect condition reaches 30,000 rubles.
- 2 rubles (2001) MMD. Official minting has not started. 2-ruble coins managed to get into circulation, but without an official indication of the issued quantity. The right to become the owner of valuable products will cost a couple of tens of thousands of rubles.
- 50 kopecks (2001) MMD. The price starts from one hundred thousand rubles (most bad condition products), but if you want a better copy, it is recommended to count on an additional 20 thousand rubles to the initial cost. There is no reliable information, at least about single sales of released products.
- 5 rubles (1999) SPMD. The price exceeds 250,000 rubles, which indicates the most expensive domestic products. Currently only one copy exists. Unique design It is almost impossible to repeat, and it is this that gives the coins their special value.
Every numismatist is able to choose exactly the offer that actually suits his needs and financial capabilities.
The obverse side of the coin. The obverse of modern rubles depicts a double-headed eagle, while the kopecks depict a horseman piercing a snake with a spear. For Soviet coins, the obverse side is considered to be the one on which the coat of arms of the USSR is depicted.
The side of the coin opposite the obverse. The reverse of modern Russian coins is decorated floral ornament, on this side the number indicates the denomination.
Edge- side surface of the coin.
Kant- a narrow protruding strip along the edge of the coin, which serves to protect its relief from wear.
Mint mark
Mint mark- trademark of the manufacturer. On modern rubles, the mint is designated by the abbreviations SPMD (St. Petersburg Mint) or MMD (Moscow Mint), on kopecks in block letters"S-P" (St. Petersburg) or "M" (Moscow). The trademark is located on the obverse of the coin: for rubles it should be looked for under the paw of an eagle, for kopecks - under the front hoof of a horse. The exception is commemorative (anniversary) metal money, in which the mint mark is located in other places, for example, between the branches of a floral ornament.
| Mint mark on modern kopecks: | |
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| Letter "M" | Letters "S-P" |
| Possible options for designating a coin company on banknotes of 1992-1993: | |
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| M - Moscow Mint | L - Leningrad Mint |
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| MMD - Moscow Mint | LMD - Leningrad Mint |
Degree of preservation of the coin
The condition of the coin (the safety of the coin) is one of the main factors influencing its collectible value.
The following degrees of safety of the coin are distinguished:
- Uncirculated (UNC) - excellent condition. In this condition, the coin should not show any signs of wear, and all its design details are usually clearly visible. Coins in this condition often have their original “chased” shine throughout their entire surface area. In this case, the presence of minor traces from storage in bags in the form of small nicks or scratches and some other defects is acceptable.
- About Uncirculated (AU, less commonly aUNC) - almost excellent condition. The coin has minimal, barely noticeable wear.
- Extremely Fine (XF) - excellent condition. The coins are in excellent condition with very minor wear to the most prominent small design elements. Usually at least 90 - 95% of small details are clearly visible on them.
- Very Fine (VF) - very good condition. Metal money already has very noticeable abrasion, and somewhat smoothed out details of the design (as a rule, only about 75% of the details of the design are clearly visible).
- Fine (F) - good condition. Good condition determined by pronounced abrasion of surfaces due to the long stay of the banknote in circulation. About 50% of the original details of the drawing are visible.
- Very Good (VG) - satisfactory condition. Significant wear on the entire surface. In Very Good condition, as a rule, only about 25% of the original elements of the design are retained.
- Good (G)- weak condition Very intense abrasion. Usually, predominantly the largest design details are visible.
Varieties
Nowadays, collecting coins by variety is becoming popular. Varieties are usually called copies of coins of the same denomination, year of issue, mint, which have any differences:
- in the stamps used for minting the obverse and (or) reverse,
- according to the design and inscriptions on the edge,
- the material from which the coin is made.
The most popular catalogs of coin varieties modern Russia are:
Types of coin defects
The numismatic value of banknotes with defects in some cases is an order of magnitude higher than standard copies. The most common types of coin defects are:
1. Vykus (moon)
Defect in the production of workpieces. Such a defect is formed when there is a failure in the supply of the metal strip and if the strip has not completely moved, then a semicircular “bite” from the previous cutting remains on the newly cut out circle. Only specimens with pronounced bites or several bites on one coin are valued. The price of such coins at auctions usually does not exceed 1000 rubles.
2. Unminted
An unstruck image on a coin can appear both as a result of wear of the working stamps, and as a result of insufficient impact force during minting. Happens quite often. Only coins with a strong unmint are of interest; in this case, the price of a coin can exceed 1000 rubles.
One of the most common types of coin defects. This type of defect occurs when using a destroyed stamp. When minted, a cracked stamp forms a convex line on the coin, starting from its edge. Of interest to collectors are only specimens with a pronounced split in the stamp, running from edge to edge. The cost of such banknotes usually starts from 100 rubles and in some cases can exceed 1000 rubles.
4. Rotate the obverse relative to the reverse
In the case of using stamps for minting, fixed with some rotation relative to each other, a defect called “rotation” is obtained. The rotation angle can be from 0 to 180 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise. The price of copies with this type of defect depends on the offset. The higher the angle, the more expensive the “turn” is valued, but it is rare that the cost of modern coins with a turn exceeds 1000 rubles.
Other types of marriage are much less common and are described in a separate article.
Where to sell a coin?
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Special mint designation represents a certain company logo. It may be different in each country, no common standards. As a rule, these are abbreviations of the name of the city where the mint is located. But it can also be different graphic elements that distinguish a city or country. A coin of the same design may have different mint designations, depending on the place of minting and the year of issue. Sometimes there are coins without a designation, but these are error coins, and they immediately become rarities.
Distinctive mark of the Russian Mint
FSUE Goznak is an enterprise entrusted with the research, development and production of state signs, mainly coins and banknotes. IN this moment Russian coins are minted at the Moscow and St. Petersburg mints.
How to determine the mint on Russian coins?
One of the first questions of a beginning numismatist. In fact, there is nothing complicated here. Mint mark can be in the form of individual letters or their combinations. They are usually very small and magnifying devices may be needed. To make it easier to distinguish Russian mint, I will tell you about them in more detail.
If you look at the obverse of coins in denominations of 10, 5, 2 and 1 ruble, then under the eagle’s left paw there will be a SPMD or MMD sign.
If you look at the obverse of coins in denominations of 50, 10, 5 and 1 kopeck, then under the horse’s front left hoof there will be the letter M or S-P.
On coins previous periods there were also designations L and M.
Mint mark on some Russian coins
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More details about the location and designation of the mint on coins:
Very often, when we read professional literature on numismatics, we come across terms of unknown meaning. Many abbreviations and abbreviations confuse the new collector. Just like now, I very often began to see the obreviations of MMD and SPMD without decoding, as if everyone already knows what it is and “what they eat it with,” and they also write that they need to be distinguished. So what are these mysterious letters? Let's take a closer look.
To begin with, let’s make a reservation that in the article we will only consider coins from the period of Modern Russia, i.e. from 1997 to the present day. Why is this important when talking about determining the differences between SPMD and MMD. The fact is that the abbreviations MMD and SPMD are nothing more than the Moscow Mint and the St. Petersburg Mint, respectively. It is in the form of such a pair of abbreviations that they are known at the present time, earlier SPMD had the name LMD (Leningrad Mint) due to the former name of the city, and in general there were several “Moscow” mints in history, and so as not to make a dissertation from a short and understandable article We set a clear and understandable framework - we consider only coins of modern circulation.
Let's get down to business. Why is it important for a person who is passionate about collecting coins to distinguish at which mint a coin was minted? There are two answers to this question:
- firstly, by mint, coins receive the number of varieties, i.e. if, for example, a coin was minted only at the MMD, then it has one variety per mint, and if it was minted at both, then there are respectively two. In a full-fledged collection, it is considered normal to have all types of collected coins, but if not all of them are collected, then the collection is considered incomplete;
- secondly, very often the price of a type of coin is extremely different depending on the mint of the manufacturer, or even puts the coin among the rarities. Let's say a certain coin was minted on the SPMD in the amount of 100 million copies (by numismatic standards this is a lot), and on the MMD - only 10 thousand pieces. Instantly the price of “Moscow” copies will skyrocket to very high limits, while “St. Petersburg” copies, on the contrary, will have practically no value.
So, we have discussed why we should distinguish coins by mint; in principle, there should be no questions. Now closer to practice. I repeat, all modern coins are minted in our country at two mints: MMD and SPMD. Almost all coins (!!! there are very rare exceptions!!!) to identify the manufacturer’s mint bear a special mark - a monogram (sign) of the mint or letter designation. The Moscow Mint corresponds to the monogram "MMD" or the letter sign "M", the St. Petersburg Mint, respectively, to "SPMD" or "S-P".
Where can you find the mint mark (monogram) on a coin? To do this, we will need a good eye or, if necessary, a simple magnifying device (Magnifying glass, also known as a magnifying glass; in extreme cases, grandma’s glasses will do. Asking your son to steal a Microscope from a biology class is NOT NECESSARY! ;) The following two pictures show modern coins . In the first row there are images of coins "in full height", the red "marker" highlights that part of the coin field that we will examine with magnification. The second row shows the enlarged part of the corresponding coin, i.e. the place where the sign (monogram) of the mint is depicted.
What do we see in the first picture? As you may have guessed, here are coins from the Moscow Mint. For clarity, the usual circulation 1 kopeck and 1 ruble are presented here, but there is also a gold St. George the Victorious. You have probably already noticed that the monogram on the 1997 Ruble differs from the mint monogram on the fifty-ruble coin. That's right, the Moscow Mint really changed the images of its trademark and this happened at the turn of 1997 and 1998.
In the second picture, accordingly, all the coins are “St. Petersburg”; completely different signs (monograms) tell us this. Definitely, the St. Petersburg monogram often looks smaller and difficult to read, but with some practice you can learn to distinguish them without any optical instruments. Well, now you, like me, as well as many other numismatists, know how to distinguish MMD from SPMD, why you need to know how to do this, and even a little more. My advice to you, dear readers: don’t be lazy, take out the coins you currently have and practice, and you can also combine this with parallel viewing of the Price Lists for coins, this can be a very useful activity, because even among ordinary small change there is a chance of finding truly rare coins, you just have to start!
Mint marks on Russian coins allow you to accurately determine where such a coin was minted. Ever since Soviet Union There were two mints in Russia - Moscow and Leningrad, which later became St. Petersburg.
A mint appeared in Moscow back in 1534. And in 1724, by decree of Peter I, a mint was opened in St. Petersburg, which was also the only one for some time, since the Moscow one did not function from 1826 to 1942.
Now in Russia there are two mints. The designation on the coins is minted in the form of monograms: MMD and SPMD.
Mint marks in the USSR
The first mint mark appeared on the reverse 1 ruble denomination, which was issued in 1975, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the victory. It was a sign of the LDM, which belonged to Leningrad. In 1977, in addition to the LDM, the MMD sign was first applied to the edge of the chervonets. Marks indicating the mint began to be applied to the change coin only in 1990.
Mint marks on coins
In the USSR, the letters L and M, as well as the abbreviations LDM, MMD, were applied in 1992-1993. The 1992 ruble has three different options mint mark - MMD, L and M marks.
To identify the mint, numismatists will need a magnifying glass. In some cases, if the condition of the coin is already poor, a scanner and camera may be useful. But in most cases, a magnifying glass is sufficient. Sometimes it is quite difficult to discern the mint emblem.
Emblem of the mint in modern Russia
So how to determine the mint on modern coins in Russia? On penny coins they are displayed as M and S-P on the obverse under the horse's front hooves. On some coins, the Moscow Mint stamp looks larger, which is also true.
The usual coins that are familiar to us, which are common in circulation, have mint marks located on the obverse of the coin under the eagle's paw on the right. At the same time, mint monograms usually have a standard appearance, however, they can also have many varieties. Sometimes the mint can be identified by the edge of the coin. Money minted with , have inscriptions of a more rounded shape than those minted by the St. Petersburg Mint.
On commemorative coins, depending on the denomination, the mint mark may appear in different places. On the reverse of coins in denominations of 2 rubles and 5 rubles, the emblem is located between the curls of the branches on the right side. In the central part of the reverse, directly below the denomination, it stands on the 10-ruble note. And on the rest with brass coating - next to the year of manufacture.
There are also coins on which the mint mark is not affixed. This happened due to an error in the production of stamps. Among numismatists, such coins are very valuable. There are 4 known such coins, two of which are anniversary coins: 1 ruble 1993, minted in honor of Vernadsky’s 130th anniversary; 2 rubles 2003 - in honor of the 40th anniversary of space flight; as well as 5 kopecks from 2002 and 2003. The belonging of coins from the times of the USSR to a specific mint can be determined by some features of the stamps.
Some novice numismatists underestimate the significance of the mint mark, but in vain. A coin of the same denomination and year of issue can vary greatly in price depending on the presence or absence of this sign, as well as its shape.