The coinage of Alexander I, for the years immediately following the reopening of the Fortress Mint in 1806-1807, is among the most interesting in the long history of Russian numismatics. In 1799 the fortress mint in St. Petersburg had been closed because the walls were in a dangerous condition.
From 1799 to 1805/1806 the silver and gold coinage of Russia was struck at the Assignat Bank, not far from the fortress, while the new mint building was erected and the old one abandoned to other uses. At the same time, new minting machinery was purchased from Matthew Boulton, the famed English private coiner and industrialist.
The new mint was occupied during 1806 and by the fall of 1807 was nearly ready to begin coinage. It was not until November 1807, however, that Alexander I finally gave the order to begin full-scale mintage. He had already chosen the revised design for the ruble, similar to the 1802–1805 type, but with significant changes. The ruble of 1807 has altogether much better artwork than its predecessor.
Very few silver coins, except for rubles, were struck from 1807 to 1810 because of the ongoing war with Turkey and the generally deteriorating European situation due to the endless
