Kirill Chernovol: what it will cost Russia to mint coins in 2025

«According to the Bank of Russia, 62.5 mn coins were issued in 2016. Over the years, coining has been steadily increasing by about 1 mn coins per year, and in 2025 it is planned to produce 73 mn coins. If we consider the cost of coining according to the data of 2008 (the latest in the public domain), then in 2016 the production cost was about Rb174.38 mn, in 2025 Rb203.67 mn, but these data are very rough», — said the expert.

He said that modern Russian coins are made of various metals and alloys selected for their cost-effectiveness, durability and resistance to wear and tear. For example, coins of 10 and 50 kopecks until 2006 were made of brass (an alloy of copper and zinc), colored in gold, and since mid-2006 they have switched to steel base with tompak cladding (a type of brass with high copper content), retaining the same appearance, while reducing production costs, said Kirill Chernovol.

Besides, coins in denominations of Rb1 and 2 from 1997 to 2009 were produced from nickel silver (an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc), marked in silver color and resistant to wear. Since 2009, to make production cheaper, they switched to a steel base with nickel electroplating, preserving the coins' appearance and increasing their durability, the analyst added. The Rb5 coins were minted from copper clad with cupronickel, but after 2009, similarly to the Rb1 and 2, they switched to nickel-plated steel base.

«There are two types of Rb10 coins. Thus, bimetallic coins produced before 2016 were comprised of an inner disk made of cupronickel and an outer ring made of brass. Since 2017, they have been replaced by coins made of steel with nickel and brass electroplating, which reduced the cost of production while preserving the appearance. Also, since 2009, coins with a nominal value of Rb10 were made of steel with brass electroplating, marked in homogeneous golden color," the expert concluded.

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