Wire money — the so-called "fish scale" kopecks — were produced by a technique essentially unchanged since Ivan the Terrible: a thin silver wire was cut into small slugs, each hammered between dies by hand. Alexey Mikhailovich's reign saw a catastrophic monetary experiment when copper kopecks of identical design were introduced in 1654 to fund wars against Poland and Sweden. The resulting debasement triggered the Copper Riot of 1662, a violent Moscow uprising that killed hundreds. Silver wire kopecks were restored the following year, which brackets the opening date of this issue precisely.
Wire money — the so-called "fish scale" kopecks — were produced by a technique essentially unchanged since Ivan the Terrible: a thin silver wire was cut into small slugs, each hammered between dies by hand. Alexey Mikhailovich's reign saw a catastrophic monetary experiment when copper kopecks of identical design were introduced in 1654 to fund wars against Poland and Sweden. The resulting debasement triggered the Copper Riot of 1662, a violent Moscow uprising that killed hundreds. Silver wire kopecks were restored the following year, which brackets the opening date of this issue precisely.