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1842, Russia, Emperor Nicholas I. Beautiful Silver Rouble Coin. XF-AU!

Mint Year: 1842 Denomination: Silver Rouble Mint Place: St. Petersburg (С.П.Б.) Reference: Davenport 283,  KM-168.1. R! Mint Master: Alexei Chadov (A-Ч, 1839-43) Condition: Minor wear on high spots, minor contact-marks, otherwise a XF-AU with beautiful patina! Material: Silver (.868) Weight: 21.08gm Diameter: 36mm

Obverse: Crown above value in cyrilic letters and date inside wreath. Legend (translated): COIN ROUBLE / 1842 С.П.Б. Reverse:Large crown above crowned double headed eagle, holding imperial scepter and orb. Legend (translated): * Pure Silver 4 Zolotniks and 21 Parts Exergue: A-Ч (Alexei Chadov)

Nicholas I (Russian: Николай I Павлович, Nikolaj I Pavlovič),   (6 July [O.S. 25 June] 1796 – 2 March [O.S. 18 February] 1855), was the   Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most   reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the   Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million   square kilometres. He was also King of Poland until his deposition in   1831.

Nicholas I was born in Gatchina to Emperor Paul I and   Empress Maria Feodorovna. He was a younger brother to Alexander I of   Russia and Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia.

In foreign policy, Nicholas I acted as the protector   of ruling legitimism and guardian against revolution. His offers to   suppress revolution on the European continent, trying to follow the   trends of his eldest brother, Tsar Alexander I, earned him the label of gendarme of Europe.   In 1825 Nicholas I was crowned and began to limit the liberties of   constitutional monarchy in Congress Poland. In return, after the   November Uprising broke out, in 1831 the Polish parliament deposed   Nicholas as king of Poland in response to his repeated curtailment of   its constitutional rights. The Tsar reacted by sending Russian troops   into Poland. Nicholas crushed the rebellion, abrogated the Polish   constitution, and reduced Poland to the status of a Russian province and   embarked on a policy of repression towards Catholics.

In 1848, when a series of revolutions convulsed   Europe, Nicholas was in the forefront of reaction. In 1849 he intervened   on behalf of the Habsburgs, uprising in Hungary, and he also urged   Prussia not to accept a liberal constitution.

While Nicholas was attempting to maintain the status   quo in Europe, he adopted an aggressive policy toward the Ottoman   Empire. Nicholas I was following the traditional Russian policy of   resolving the so-called Eastern Question by seeking to partition the   Ottoman Empire and establish a protectorate over the Orthodox population   of the Balkans, still largely under Ottoman control in the 1820s.

Russia fought a successful war with the Ottomans in   1828 and 1829. In 1833 Russia negotiated the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi   with the Ottoman Empire. The major European parties mistakenly believed   that the treaty contained a secret clause granting Russia the right to   send warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. By the   London Straits Convention of 1841, they affirmed Ottoman control over   the straits and forbade any power, including Russia, to send warships   through the straits. Based on his role in suppressing the revolutions of   1848 and his mistaken belief that he had British diplomatic support,   Nicholas moved against the Ottomans, who declared war on Russia in 1853.

Fearing the results of an Ottoman defeat by Russia,   in 1854 Britain, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia and also then Duchy of   Savoy , (which would be absorbed into Italy in 1861), and the Ottoman   Empire on the other joined forces in the conflict known what became   known as the Crimean War on the Ottoman side and in Western Europe, but   known in Russia as the Eastern War, (Russian: Восточная война,   Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856).

Austria offered the Ottomans diplomatic support, and   Prussia remained neutral, leaving thus Russia without possible allies on   the continent. The European allies landed in Crimea and laid siege to   the well-fortified Russian base at Sevastopol. After a year's siege the   base fell, exposing Russia's inability to defend a major fortification   on its own soil.

Nicholas I died before the fall of Sevastopol, but he   already had recognized the failure of his regime. Russia now faced the   choice of initiating major reforms or losing its status as a major   European power.

The French seizure of Malakhov Tower heavily   protected military complexes at Sevastopol in the Crimea, concluded the   siege of this important, even today, naval base.

It is said, but careful metallographic researches do   not avail this always, that its guns were melted down to make the   Victoria Cross, instituted by Queen Victoria in January 1856.