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Denga - Vasily II the Blind
| Issuer | Moscow, Grand principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1435-1454 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | КНАZЬВЕЛИКИIВАСИЛЕИ (Translation: Grand Prince Vasily) |
| Reverse description | Reverse field bears a multi-line Cyrillic inscription arranged in three or four horizontal lines within a linear border, a layout typical of Muscovite dengas of the reign of Vasily II. The legend identifies the issuing ruler as Grand Prince Vasily. The lettering is boldly but irregularly struck in the hammered wire-money tradition, with characters showing the angular, compressed forms characteristic of mid-fifteenth-century Moscow mint engravers. The flan is irregular and slightly clipped at the margins, consistent with the hand-cut wire planchet production method of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Vasily II earned his epithet the hard way: captured by his cousin Dmitry Shemyaka in 1446, he was blinded and held prisoner before ultimately reclaiming the Muscovite throne. The coinage of his reign reflects the political chaos — multiple competing minting authorities, inconsistent weight standards, and the persistent threat of Tatar-backed rivals made currency control nearly impossible. Denga production under Vasily II is notoriously difficult to attribute with precision, and the overlapping catalog references across Hritskov, Oreshnikov, and Mets frequently assign identical dies to different sub-periods.