The Central Bank of Russia has commissioned a special batch of four commemorative coins dedicated to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Russia next summer.
On Tuesday, the bank issued four silver three ruble coins to be released into circulation, each of which features a unique special design. There will also be a commemorative 25 ruble coin made from non-precious metals.
The four silver coins are each engraved with their own special image depicting landmarks around Russia: the ‘Motherland Calls’ monument in Volgograd, the Nizhegorodskaya Kremlin in Nizhny Novgorod, the ‘Soyuz’ rocket carrier in Samara, and the memorial monuments in Rostov-on-Don.
All of those cities will host World Cup matches. Around 24,000 of each of the four coins will be released into circulation.
Engraved on the reverse of each silver coin is the image of a footballer with a ball, a line representing the flight of a ball, folk decorations, and famous landmarks from Russian cities.
“The reverse of each 25-ruble non-precious metal coin in regular circulation features an embossment of the FIFA World Cup trophy. The same trophy, only filled in with color, will be put on the back of coins in special circulation,” the bank said in a statement, Izvestia reported.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament will be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15 at 12 stadiums located in 11 host cities.
In the lead up to the tournament, the World Cup trophy will embark on a 24-city tour of Russia, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok – the longest national tour in history – giving Russians the chance to grab a clinch a glimpse of football’s biggest prize in 2017 and 2018.
The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, which was also held in Russia and is seen as a dress rehearsal for the bigger tournament, concluded in St. Petersburg on Sunday evening with Germany beating Chile 1-0 in the final to claim their first ever title in that tournament.