Kopeck - Mikhail I Velikiy Novgorod, НОГ

Mikhail Romanov's early kopecks were struck under conditions of near-institutional collapse — the Time of Troubles had left the Russian minting system fragmented across multiple cities, each operating with inconsistent dies and supply chains. The Novgorod mint, designated by the НОГ signature, had only recently returned to Romanov control after Swedish occupation ended with the 1617 Treaty of Stolbovo, which ceded Ingria and Karelia to Sweden in exchange for withdrawing from Novgorod itself. That the mint resumed operations almost immediately after evacuation speaks to how urgently the new dynasty needed coinage as a political instrument.

Wire money of this period was struck by hand on irregular silver blanks cut from drawn rod, making die alignment essentially accidental. No two pieces are alike in shape.