Denga - Ivan III Novgorod, letter Ю

Ivan III absorbed Novgorod into Moscow's domain in 1478 after a prolonged political strangling of the city-republic — military pressure, staged trials, and the deportation of its merchant elite. These dengas, struck at the former Novgorodian mint under Muscovite authority, represent the transition period when Moscow imposed its own monetary administration on a city that had previously run its own coinage for centuries. The letter Ю serves as a mint or moneyer mark distinguishing this emission within the Novgorod series.