Peter I's wire kopecks — struck by the ancient "fish scale" method, where silver wire was cut into slugs and hammered between dies — were already technologically obsolete when this piece was made. Peter had been pushing Western-style milled coinage since his return from the Grand Embassy in 1698, and these wire issues were being phased out even as they were struck. By 1718 the type was abolished entirely.
The 1702 date places this coin in the early years of the Great Northern War against Sweden, when military expenditure was straining the treasury hard.
Peter I's wire kopecks — struck by the ancient "fish scale" method, where silver wire was cut into slugs and hammered between dies — were already technologically obsolete when this piece was made. Peter had been pushing Western-style milled coinage since his return from the Grand Embassy in 1698, and these wire issues were being phased out even as they were struck. By 1718 the type was abolished entirely.
The 1702 date places this coin in the early years of the Great Northern War against Sweden, when military expenditure was straining the treasury hard.