response 4 of 139:

Jan 6 21:11 UTC 2006

 re #1:  Yes, it sounds like a 15 kopek coin.
         http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~jafarr/USSR.htm

 A friend who was born in the Soviet Union told me an interesting story
 about the 15 kopek coin, which I've found a version of here:
 http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/russnet_pr.html

 Apparently all the payphones in Russia at one time were built to accept
 15 kopek coins, but when the Soviet Union dissolved and the Russian govt
 stopped controlling the economy, kopek-denominated coins were worth so
 little they stopped minting them.  However -- they still have millions
 of pay phones throughout the country that are built to only work on the
 old 15 kopek coins.  Consequently, such coins trade at many times their
 face value because they've essentially stopped being used as a currency
 unit and have switched to mainly being traded as a phone token.