Denga - Vasily II the Blind

Vasily II ruled despite being blinded by his cousin Dmitry Shemyaka in 1446 — a mutilation used as political incapacitation, the same punishment Vasily himself had inflicted on a rival years earlier. He recovered power regardless, reigning until 1462. The denga coinage of this period is notoriously difficult to attribute with precision; Moscow, Tver, and numerous appanage mints produced visually similar small silver pieces, and attribution frequently depends on die studies rather than any single diagnostic feature.