October 21 – It may not end Russian economic problems when it comes to the ruble to dollar exchange rate, but the Central Bank of Russia is determined to take advantage of the 2018 World Cup in the country and issue commemorative currency.
The bank is currently looking for FIFA’s approval for a coin series celebrating the 2018 event, siad Georgy Luntovsky, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank. “We are working on a coin programme for the world championship,” Luntovsky said. “We are currently awaiting approval from FIFA and the Sports Ministry of Russia.”
“When we’re ready, we’ll announce the print run, and we’ll show what the coins look like,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”
Luntovsky said that the Central Bank may also issue World Cup themed banknotes. “There is no decision on banknotes yet,” he said “But it’s a possibility.”
But the bank may already be behind in this currency game. Host city Ekaterinburg has issued a series of coins, commemorating the start of construction on the local stadium – though these coins are not strictly legal tender.
Russia’s Central Bank has issued World Cup commemorative coins before, printing 20,000 silver rubles for the 1998 World Cup in France in 1997. The Bank of Russia issued three kinds of coins for the 2020 World Cup in Japan and South Korea: silver coins with a face value of 3 rubles and 100 rubles (print run: 25,000 and 500, respectively), and 3,000 gold coins with a face value of 50 rubles.
For the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Russian Central Bank minted 10,000 3-ruble silver coins, and 1,500 50-ruble gold coins.
FIFA authorised a large coin and medal programme for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, of which the first batch were sold out within 24 hours.
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