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First Peter the Great planned to construct a mint in St. Petersburg about 1720. This was a logical outcome of the transfer of the Russian capital to the city on the Neva. However, due to a whole range of technical and organizational reasons, the implementation of this plan was postponed. Finally in 1724, the Mint was established in the Trubetzkoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

At first not very many coins were manufactured in St. Petersburg. Only gold coins were manufactured in limited number at the new Mint (all gold and silver coins began to be manufactured in St. Petersburg only since 1765). However, the new Mint was planned by Peter the Great as a reference for other mints in Russia, therefore much attention was paid to its technical equipment. Machinery for the St. Petersburg Mint was ordered in Nuremberg, which was then the European center of coinage press manufacturing, and Peter the Great ordered the best of what they had. This is how the Mint in the Trubetzkoy bastion has become one of the most advanced coin manufacturers in Europe.