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Trial coins are always surrounded by a halo of some kind of mystery.
They are released on the eve of any landmark events:
- during the preparation of monetary reform;
- before changing the design;
- before the experimental change of the alloy.
Test coins (or, as they were called by the people, "probes") fully justify their name, being full-fledged units of monetary functioning in the market.
Collectors value Russian test coins for the fact that, as a rule, there is practically no information about them. Work in this direction is always classified, which gives rise to a lot of assumptions among the people.
In the Soviet Union in 1953, like in no other, a huge number of “probes” were released. The death of Stalin, as one of the motivating factors for the emergence of a massive trial series, is considered by many experts. However, a more reliable explanation seems to be the work on a new coin design.
"Probes" minted in eight denominations - from 1 to 50 kopecks. For the trial series 5 different alloys were involved. There are studies claiming that the trial series of coins minted in 1953 has 96 variants.
This suggests that at that time the Soviet leadership was actively looking for the appearance of coins and, in particular, the options for the design of the reverse.
For example, in trial issues of coins (with face values up to 50 kopecks) there are different images of a star above the emblem.
Obverses are presented in just two options. Moreover, the coat of arms and the name of the country remained unchanged for any design decision.
