Denga - Ivan III Moscow

Ivan III's coinage from this period reflects a deliberate consolidation of Muscovite authority following the absorption of Novgorod in 1478 — the same year this type begins. The denga denomination was the backbone of Muscovite small commerce, struck by hammering between crude dies, which accounts for the characteristic off-center strikes endemic to the type. Zaitsev 22 is among the more precisely attributed varieties in a series where die identification remains genuinely difficult.