I had no idea this is going for so much money. I do understand that this was minted from WWII
And the mint was evacuated. I wonder how many pieces were minted?

I also wonder how much the hot Russian market comes into play?

Link to eBay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171010249742?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I've never seen the '42 in any grade even when it used to be a $5 coin in Unc.  It's  been on my buy list forever.  Until very recently there was just no way to tell scarce coins from common ones.  I'd guess the mintage of this in the one million range but it's tough to get a good estimate when you've not seen even one. 

People might find this eye opening;

http://www.rustypennies.com/catalog/soviet_coins.html

I've never seen the '42 in any grade even when it used to be a $5 coin in Unc.  It's  been on my buy list forever.  Until very recently there was just no way to tell scarce coins from common ones.  I'd guess the mintage of this in the one million range but it's tough to get a good estimate when you've not seen even one. 

People might find this eye opening;

http://www.rustypennies.com/catalog/soviet_coins.html

Wow, after checking out that site the closing price $565 for a MS64 was a pretty good price!

Thanks for the link.