Lot 2816
Russia. Platinum Pattern 'Memorial' Rouble 1825. Alexnader I,1801-1825. Proof struck in platinum. Edge plain. Diam 38.6mm. Weight 35 grams. Obverse: Old portrait of Czar right, after C. Leberecht, wreath above. Dates of reign 1801-1825 to right and left. Reverse: Crowned imperial double headed eagle, wings down, bearing wreath and arms. MOHETA P. above, 1825 below. One of only 2 pieces recently produced struck in platinum. Choice Brilliant Proof.
*Alexander remains one of Russia's most interesting and complex rulers. Added to this, his death is shrouded in mystery.
In the autumn of 1825 the Emperor travelled to the south of Russia accompanied by his sick wife. Alexander himself however caught a cold which developed into typhus and he died in the southern city of Taganrog in late November 1825. His body was (officially) transported to Saint Petersburg and he was interred there in March 1826. His wife died a few months later.
The sudden death started rumours that the disillusioned Czar had secretly renounced the throne and retired to spend his life in solitude. It was rumoured that a soldier was buried as 'Alexander' and a British ambassador had, in reality, seen Alexander boarding a ship. Some say the emperor became a monk in Pochaev Lavra or Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra. Many believed that a mysterious hermit Feodor Kuzmich who emerged in Siberia in 1836 and died near Tomsk in 1864 was actually Alexander. In 1925 the Soviets opened Alexander's tomb and there was no body.
Confusion followed Alexander's death and there was an attempted coup by liberal- minded officers. The heir presumptive, Alexander's brother Constantine, had in 1822 renounced his rights to the throne, but no-one outside the Czar's family seemed aware of the fact.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,400.
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