Lot 2804
Russia. Platinum Pattern Accession Rouble 1796. Paul I,1796-1801. Proof struck in platinum. Weight 35 grams. 38.6mm diam. Edge plain. Weight 35 grams. Obverse; Draped bust of Emperor right, after C. Meisner. Reverse: Crowned imperial eagle holding orb and sceptre. M P at sides. One of a limited edition of 2 platinum pieces recently produced by the International Numismatic Agency Ltd. Choice Brilliant Proof.
* Paul was born in the Palace of the Empress Elizabeth in St Petersburg. He was the son of Elizabeth's heir, the future Czar Peter II, and his wife, who later became Catherine the Great. In 1771 he suffered an attack of typhus which unfortunately resulted in a facial disfigurement. Lord Buckinghamshire, the British ambassador to the Russian court expressed the view as early as 1764, that his mother Catherine hated him and would have had him put to death as a boy if she had not feared the effects of another royal murder. However, others suggest that she treated him with kindness.
Certainly, Catherine's dissolute court was not a good place for a future ruler, but she took the trouble to arrange Paul's marriage to Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse Darmstadt in 1773 and allowed him to attend Council in order that he may be trained for his work as a future Emperor. His tutor Poroshin complained that he was 'always in a hurry' and would not think matters through before he acted. After his first wife died in childbirth, his mother arranged another marriage in October 1776. Paul took as his wife the beautiful Sophia Dorothea of Wurtemburg, later known as Maria Feodorovna. Empress Catherine granted Paul an estate at Gatchina where he maintained a brigade of soldiers whom he drilled in the Prussian fashion. In 1796 Paul became Emperor upon the sudden death of Catherine.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,400.
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