The presented hoard of silver coins was found on the territory of the Gorokhovets district in the 1980s. It consisted of 25 silver rubles of Nicholas II. The obverse of the coin depicted the profile of the last Russian emperor.

Anton Fyodorovich Vasyutinsky was chosen to design the portrait of the future emperor. It was the first time when a medalist was allowed to portray the emperor from life. This image also appeared on imperial (15 rubles), half-imperial (7,5 rubles), 50 and 25 kopeck coins of 1895–1915. Under Soviet rule, Anton Vasyutinsky was able to continue his career.

On the obverse, the silver coins are circled with an inscription:

On the reverse of the coin is an image of the Lesser Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire, established in 1883.

The coat of arms of Moscow was placed on the eagle’s chest, and its wings depicted the emblems of the eight kingdoms that were part of the Russian Empire. Under the emblem was the denomination “RUBLE” and the year of minting. The design of those coins remained practically the same. Even though in the early years they were coined in such quantities that the Saint Petersburg Mint was overstretched, over the years their annual production gradually decreased.

Silver coins had to be additionally brought from France and Belgium, where they were made at the Paris Mint and the Brussels Mint respectively. The difference in the quality of coinage between Russian and foreign rubles was little if any. The designation on the edge referred to the place where the coins were minted.

Right there the inscription was placed: “4 ZOLOTNIKS 21 SHARES OF PURE SILVER”, which meant that the coin contained 18 grams of 900 silver. The coins also had the letters AG, which are the initials of Apollo Ludwigovich Grashof, the Russian münzmeister (the head of a mint).

The münzmeister’s initials on a silver coin meant it was produced in the Russian Empire. If the edge had one engraved star instead of the initials, this meant that the coin was made at the Paris Mint, while two stars denoted the Brussels origin.