The St. Petersburg Mint (SPMD), a branch of Joint-Stock Company Goznak, is one of the largest mints in the world for minting coins, including commemorative and jubilee coins made of precious metals, as well as for producing orders, medals, badges of merit and other products made of non-ferrous metals.
It was founded on December 12, 1724, by Peter the Great on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress. In addition to coinage, the Mint performed numerous works appertaining to engraving, designing and making of medals. In the middle of the 18th century, a Laboratory for the Separation of Noble Metals was founded here, which played an essential role in the development of Russian chemistry and metallurgy of precious metals: gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
The enterprise holds the central place in the development of coinage in Russia. From 1876 to 1942, the production of state metal insignia was concentrated here; the Mint introduced technologies of mass production of orders, digestion of colored organic enamels, etc. In 1921, the Mint launched minting of Soviet coins. In August of 1941, after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the major part of the Mint's equipment was removed to the town of Krasnokamsk. In later time, a Mint was established in Moscow, which was assigned production facilities on the territory of the Moscow Printing Factory.
The postage stamp provides an image of the commemorative stamp produced for the 175th Anniversary of the Saint Petersburg Mint; the margins of the souvenir sheet feature the building of the enterprise; an ancient engraving, which shows the process of minting coins; a photo of the working process; coins, medals and orders produced at the St. Petersburg Mint.
