Jefimok Rouble - Alexey Mikhailovich Countermarked over 'Flanders Patagon'

The jefimok was not a Russian coin in any conventional sense — it was a foreign thaler, seized or purchased in bulk, then countermarked and assigned a fixed value of 64 kopeks for domestic circulation. Alexey Mikhailovich introduced the scheme in 1655 to fund the costly Russo-Polish War, having exhausted more orthodox monetary options. A Flemish patagon was a perfectly serviceable host coin for this purpose: heavy, silver, and widely trusted.

The experiment collapsed within a year. The assigned value exceeded the silver content, Russians refused them, and the jefimok was withdrawn by 1659.