Jefimok Rouble - Alexey Mikhailovich Countermarked over 'Brabant Patagon of Philip IV 1632'

The jefimok was not a Russian coin at all — it was a foreign thaler impressed with two countermarks and declared legal tender at 64 kopecks in 1655, part of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich's desperate attempt to fund the Russo-Polish War without the silver reserves to mint original coinage. Tens of thousands of Western European thalers were requisitioned, the Brabant patagon among the most common candidates given the volume entering Russia through Baltic trade.

The experiment collapsed within a year. The fixed exchange rate was wildly unpopular, contributing directly to the Copper Riot of 1662. Most jefimoks were demonetized and returned to bullion, which is precisely why survivors in unaltered condition remain scarce.