Russia celebrates the bicentenary of noted artist Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky with silver coin

After the geographer Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky and the poet Balmont, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is showcasing the talents of a painter for its Outstanding Personalities of Russia series of proof silver coins. I. K. Aivazovsky was Russian Romantic painter of marine art, considered one of the greatest masters of this genre. Born in the Black Sea port of Feodosia in Crimea in 1817, he worked there for much of his life, although he travelled widely through Europe.

Always linked to the military, he was appointed the main painter of the Russian Navy and was incredibly prolific. Over a 60-year career he created around 6,000 paintings, often seascapes, but also battle scenes, Armenian themes, and portraiture. Most of his body of work is kept in Russian, Ukrainian and Armenian museums as well as private collections.

The coin sticks with the ½ oz sterling silver format and has a mintage of 3,000 pieces. The image of Aivazovsky at work in later life is a good one and part of one of his most famous works is reproduced in the background. His name in cyrillic script along with the dates of his birth and death are inscribed on this face. The coin was designed by A.D. Schablykin and sculpted by A.A. Dolgopolova. The obverse is the standard Russian one – the cool-looking Russian double-headed eagle emblem. Struck at the Moscow Mint, the coin is available now.

REVERSE: on the mirror field of the disc on the right the relief image of I.K. Aivazovsky holding a paintbrush and a palette in his hands, in the background on the left a fragment of his painting “The Ninth Wave”, below it in two lines the painter’s years of life “1817” and “1900”, above along the rim the inscription “И.К. АЙВАЗОВСКИЙ” (I.K. AIVAZOVSKY).

OBVERSE: on the mirror field of the disc the relief image of the National Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation, over it along the rim the semicircular inscription “РОССИЙСКАЯ ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ” (RUSSIAN FEDERATION), framed on both sides by doubled rhombuses, below under the coat of arms: to the left indications of the precious metal and its fineness, to the right the fine metal content and the mint trade mark, at the bottom in the centre, in three lines the inscription “БАНК РОССИИ” (BANK OF RUSSIA), the denomination of the coin “2 РУБЛЯ” (2 RUBLES), the year of issue “2017 г.” (2017).