Kopeck - Alexey Mikhailovich Copper, Pskov

The copper kopecks of Alexey Mikhailovich were struck as part of a catastrophic monetary experiment: in 1655 the government began issuing copper coins at the nominal value of silver, attempting to fund the ongoing wars with Poland and Sweden without depleting the treasury. Pskov was one of several mints activated specifically for this emergency production. The predictable result was rampant counterfeiting and mass inflation, culminating in the Copper Riot of 1662 in Moscow. By 1663 the copper kopeck was demonetized entirely, exchanged for silver at a rate of one to one hundred.