Kopeck - Mikhail I о М

Mikhail Romanov's earliest kopecks were struck under conditions of near-institutional collapse — the Time of Troubles had left the Russian minting apparatus fragmented across Pskov, Novgorod, and Moscow, each operating with inconsistent dies and irregular silver supply. The "о М" mint mark combination places this piece at Moscow during the first years of Romanov consolidation, when establishing a recognizable coinage was itself a political act of stabilization.

Wire money of this period was produced by drawing silver rod into wire, cutting it to weight, and striking between hand-cut dies — a technique unchanged in Russia since the fifteenth century.