Imperial (coin)
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5 ruble gold coin (half-imperial) of Tsar Nicholas II.
The Imperial (coin) is a Russian gold coin of 10 rubles .
It was first minted under Tsarina Elisabeth in 1755 and shows the bust of the ruler on the obverse and a cross made of five shields with the year in the angles on the reverse. Until the 19th century , the imperial with a face value of 5 rubles was called polu-imperial (= "half-imperial") and the 10 or 15 ruble coins were only minted as foam coins, which means that they were not in circulation. Under Tsar Nicholas II , from 1897 half-imperial and imperial coins were issued with a face value of 5 and 10 rubles respectively for the circulation of the newly introduced gold standard currency .