The Russian copper coinage of 1810 to 1825 was struck during the stirring historical times that gripped Russia and its people in the age of Napoleon. The Russian armies had been badly mauled in 1805 by the French at Austerlitz and in 1807 Napoleon forced Russia out of the anti-French alliance. Russia was even ordered to stop importing any kind of goods whatsoever from Napoleon’s chief enemy, Britain. This economic warfare hurt Russia more than Britain.
At length, in December 1810, Czar Alexander I formally notified Paris that he was not only abandoning the so-called Continental System, which did not allow trade with Britain, but was also re-establishing diplomatic relations with London. For Emperor Napoleon, it was the final straw and he decided to invade Russia and thus control the last major land mass on the continent.
More than 600,000 French and allied soldiers crossed the Niemen River, then the boundary between Russia and Prussia, in June 1812. Napoleon aimed his military force directly towards Moscow as he felt that the Russians would sue for peace rather than allow this city to fall.
Despite several bloody battles, including that at Borodino in particular, the Russians were unable to stop the French advance and Czar Alexander I reluctantly abandoned Moscow to
