Jefimok Rouble - Alexey Mikhailovich Countermarked over 'Frankfurt Thaler 1647'

The jefimok was not a minted coin but a policy decision. Facing a chronic silver shortage and the enormous costs of war with Poland-Lithuania and Sweden simultaneously, Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich's government in 1655 authorized the countermarking of western European thalers — predominantly German, Dutch, and Scandinavian issues flooding Russian trade routes — with two punches: the tsar's horseman stamp and a date cartouche reading 1655. The Frankfurt thaler of 1647 was among the eligible foreign coins swept into this program.

The jefimok circulated at 64 kopecks, deliberately overvalued against its silver content. The scheme collapsed within a year under public resistance and monetary chaos that contributed to the broader Copper Riot of 1662.