Kopeck - Peter I

Peter I's wire kopecks — struck by the ancient chekanka method, pressing a small blob of silver wire between hand-cut dies — were already an anachronism by 1702. Peter knew it. His modernization of the Russian monetary system was underway, and these tiny hammered pieces were being produced alongside the first machine-struck coins at the newly reorganized Moscow mints. The wire kopeck survived only because the peasant economy still demanded it; abolishing it outright would have been politically reckless.

Production ceased entirely in 1718 as Peter's reformed coinage took hold. Survivors from 1702 are typically found misshapen, the legends partially off-flan — an inherent consequence of the production method, not wear.