Kopeck - Peter I

Peter I's wire kopecks were an inheritance he never wanted — hand-struck on irregular silver slivers using a technique unchanged since the 15th century. By 1700 he had already begun replacing them with Western-style milled coinage, yet the wire kopeck persisted because the peasant economy depended on it and nothing smaller existed in the new system. The 1702 issue falls squarely in that awkward transition window.

Production ceased entirely by 1718, when Peter abolished the denomination rather than modernize it.