Today’s preview of the Stack’s Bowers Galleries January NYINC auction
continues the story started last week with the Rare One Year Type Ruble of Elizabeth. Born
in August 1740 to Duchess Anna Leopoldovna (niece of Empress Anna of
Russia), the arrival of Ivan VI seemed a stroke of luck to then Empress Anna.
In 1740 she was 47 years old, in failing health and without a clear successor
to the throne. Empress Anna wished to secure the line of her father, Tsar Ivan
V (co-regent with Emperor Peter I) while simultaneously excluding any
descendants of Emperor Peter I from ruling. To achieve this, Empress Anna
adopted the newborn Ivan VI Antonovich and named him successor to the Empire of
Russia. Empress Anna died in October 1740, leaving the eight-week-old Ivan VI
as Emperor with a German noble (Ernst Johann von Biron) as regent. Biron acted
as regent for only three weeks, before he was replaced by Ivan VI’s mother.
Just over a year later, Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of
Emperor Peter I and Catherine I, rallied the Russian guard regiments and
overthrew the government and ascended as Empress Elizabeth in December 1741.
Born on December 18, 1709, her parents had married in secret in December of
1707. However, their marriage was not made public until February of 1712. Due
to the secrecy of her parents’ marriage during the time of her birth,
Elizabeth’s opponents questioned her legitimacy and right to the throne.
Elizabeth was passed over in favor of Empress Anna and, subsequently, Emperor
Ivan VI. Realizing that the infant emperor and his regent were losing favor
with the armed forces, Elizabeth seized power in a daring coup with help from
regiments of the Russian army. Wearing a dress and armored breast plate,
Elizabeth stormed the Winter Palace with her forces and arrested the infant
Emperor Ivan VI Antonovich.
Former Emperor Ivan VI and his mother were kept in
increasingly secretive prisons, with Ivan VI eventually isolated from his
family at four years old when he was sent to Kholmogory in northern Russia.
There he remained for 12 years, seeing no one but his jailor. Rumors of his
imprisonment spread, and he was transferred to a more secure location in 1756,
where he was more rigorously guarded. Even the fortress commander did not know the
identity of the exiled Emperor. Emperor Peter III, successor to Empress
Elizabeth, sympathized with Ivan VI and went so far as to visit him and offered
him aid, but Peter III’s assassination quite literally cut short that plan.
When Catherine II ascended the throne, she issued strict orders regarding Ivan
VI that he was not to be educated by his guards and that he be referred to as
“the nameless one.” Finally, if any attempt was made to free or locate
him (even with documentation from Catherine II) Ivan VI was to be executed
immediately. Despite nearly 20 years of solitary confinement, Ivan VI was aware
of his true identity as Emperor, and the knowledge of his presence in the
prison spread to other officers in the garrison. An attempt was made to free
him, which was quickly foiled due to the secretive orders issued by Empress
Catherine II. The conspirators were executed alongside Ivan VI, and the young
exiled Emperor was buried quietly inside the fortress. This grisly act secured
Catherine II’s position as Empress, and ended the decades of mental anguish
Ivan VI endured.
The coin features a right facing bust of the infantile
emperor, laureate and mantled with order ribbon. The reverse design boasts at the center the Imperial Coat of
Arms: the Imperial double headed eagle, each head crowned with a third crown
above. The left claw holds a scepter, representing monarchial power, and the
globus cruciger in the right claw demonstrates the religious authority of the
emperor. The Order of Saint Andrew, the highest honorary order in Imperial
Russia, appears around the arms of Moscow showing Saint George mounted and
defeating the dragon. The date appears above, with the Cyrillic legend for the
denomination below. This variety is exceptionally rare, and distinguishes
itself from the other varieties of Ivan VI Rubles by the obverse legend that
ends significantly further underneath the bust.
While we are no longer taking consignments for our January 2018 New York
International Auction, we are taking consignments of world and ancient coins as
well as world paper money for the upcoming May 2018 Collector’s Choice Online.
We are accepting consignments of Chinese and other Asian coins and currency for
our April 2018 Hong Kong Showcase Auction. Time is running short, so if you are
interested in consigning your coins and paper currency (whether a whole
collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our consignment
directors.
