Catherine the Great (Coin and Stamp Box)

Weighing in at a massive 51 grams on average, these enormous 5-kopek copper coins are almost twice as heavy as U.S. silver dollars of the same period. The elaborate monogram on the obverse, E T, stands for Ekaterina Tsarina; the reverse shows the Romanov two-headed eagle. Catherine’s influence was so great that her extra-large design was copied by the King of England; the British ”cartwheel“ twopence, a similarly large coin, was issued in 1797, a year after Catherine’s death. Her coins, outsized as they are, are a fitting monument to her memory.Also includes a postage stamp with her image.