Mikhail Romanov was elected Tsar in February 1613 by a zemsky sobor convened to end the Time of Troubles — a decade of civil war, famine, foreign occupation, and no fewer than four contested rulers. These wire-cut kopecks were among the first coins struck under his name, produced at the Moscow mint while Swedish forces still held Novgorod and Polish troops remained active in Russian territory. The МОС/КВА mint signature reflects Moscow's reassertion of minting authority after years of disruption, including a period when Sigismund III of Poland had coins struck in his own name at the same facility.
Mikhail Romanov was elected Tsar in February 1613 by a zemsky sobor convened to end the Time of Troubles — a decade of civil war, famine, foreign occupation, and no fewer than four contested rulers. These wire-cut kopecks were among the first coins struck under his name, produced at the Moscow mint while Swedish forces still held Novgorod and Polish troops remained active in Russian territory. The МОС/КВА mint signature reflects Moscow's reassertion of minting authority after years of disruption, including a period when Sigismund III of Poland had coins struck in his own name at the same facility.