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| Medieval Russian Silver Coins - Wire Silver Kopek |
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| Russian Silver kopek |
Obverse: The Tsar as St. George on horse, killing dragon with spear in his right hand. Mint initials (ГР) below.
Reverse: Inscription ("Czar and Grand Prince Ivan of Entire Rus") in five lines.
Legend: "ЦРЬИ / КНSЬВЕ / ЛИКIИВА / НЬВСЕIA / РУСИ" ("Царь и Князь Великий Иван Всея Руси")
Mint Place: Pskov (ГР)
Mint Period: 1547-1584
Diameter: 14 mm; Weight: 0.68 gram of Silver
Wire Money was a type of early Russian coins that were produced from 980 AD to 1718. For hundreds of years Russian commerce was based on these tiny silver coins.
These are irregular shapes of metal, each stamped with the mark of the issuer. The term "wire money" comes from the minting technique. Coins were made from rolled silver wire which was then cut into sections, depending upon the desired weight. The metal was tempered, then struck into coinage. Earlier issues are quite rare with complete legends and designs as irregular shapes are the norm. And there was no central mint, attested to by the great diversity of coinage from this time period. Mintage was contracted out to a number of silversmiths. The monetary relationship of copper to silver is not known as it fluctuated from time and place. The denomination of the silver coins, "denga", is found only rarely on coins from this period. Subsequently the term "dengi" came to be the Russian word for money. The many images on Russian coinage include human figures, scenes of the hunt and combat, horsemen ("Moscow Arms"), animals and decorative symbols. The inscriptions are in Russian and usually convey the issuing prince's name and patronymic and the legend in later coinage stated "Sovereign of all the Russian lands." The medieval history of Russia was chaotic, to say the least. At the end of the fourteenth century four Great Principalities (including Moscow) dominated the Russian landscape. Tver, Ryazan and Suzdal/Nizhny-Novgorod were all largely independent. Ivan IV (The Terrible) ultimately took the title of "Tsar" and standardized its use by 1547. ("Tsar" is a corruption of the Latin word "Caesar".)
These are irregular shapes of metal, each stamped with the mark of the issuer. The term "wire money" comes from the minting technique. Coins were made from rolled silver wire which was then cut into sections, depending upon the desired weight. The metal was tempered, then struck into coinage. Earlier issues are quite rare with complete legends and designs as irregular shapes are the norm. And there was no central mint, attested to by the great diversity of coinage from this time period. Mintage was contracted out to a number of silversmiths. The monetary relationship of copper to silver is not known as it fluctuated from time and place. The denomination of the silver coins, "denga", is found only rarely on coins from this period. Subsequently the term "dengi" came to be the Russian word for money. The many images on Russian coinage include human figures, scenes of the hunt and combat, horsemen ("Moscow Arms"), animals and decorative symbols. The inscriptions are in Russian and usually convey the issuing prince's name and patronymic and the legend in later coinage stated "Sovereign of all the Russian lands." The medieval history of Russia was chaotic, to say the least. At the end of the fourteenth century four Great Principalities (including Moscow) dominated the Russian landscape. Tver, Ryazan and Suzdal/Nizhny-Novgorod were all largely independent. Ivan IV (The Terrible) ultimately took the title of "Tsar" and standardized its use by 1547. ("Tsar" is a corruption of the Latin word "Caesar".)
Ivan IV Vasilyevich, Ivan Chetvyorty, Vasilyevich), known in English as Ivan the Terrible (Ivan Grozny) (25 August 1530, Moscow – 28 March 1584, Moscow) was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost 1 billion acres, growing during his term at a rate of approximately 130 square kilometers a day. Ivan oversaw numerous changes in the transition from a medieval nation state to an empire and emerging regional power, and became the first Tsar of a new and more powerful nation.