This five-rouble coin with an archer came out in the last year of the Soviet Olympic programme, 1980, when Moscow hosted the Games of the XXII Olympiad. That is why the year appears twice on the reverse: in the legend «ИГРЫ XXII ОЛИМПИАДЫ · МОСКВА · 1980» and next to the «ЛМД» mint mark as the date of striking.

The centre of the reverse shows an archer in competition, with Olympic venues and the Games emblem behind. The obverse bears the Soviet coat of arms with wheat ears and fifteen ribbon turns, one for each union republic, above «СССР» and «5 РУБЛЕЙ».

The Olympic silver programme opened in 1977 with views of the host cities and closed in 1980, by which time 28 designs had been issued in 5 and 10 roubles. Archery was one of two Olympic disciplines in the 1980 issue, alongside gymnastics; the regular mintage of this coin was about 126,000.

VF-AU grade: anything from noticeable wear on the high points to almost no trace of circulation; the archer, the emblem and the inscriptions remain sharp. It is an affordable way to fill the 1980 slot of the Olympic series with the Leningrad mint mark.

A coin in a collection is a reason to learn more about history, and the VPcoins catalogue offers many such reasons.