Kopeck - Peter I

Peter I's wire kopecks — struck by the ancient chekanka method, where a blob of silver wire was hammered between dies — were already anachronistic by 1703. Peter despised them, describing them as primitive compared to Western milled coinage, and was actively working to abolish the type even as this piece was struck. The Moscow mint continued producing them only because the population refused to trust anything unfamiliar. Full monetary reform came in 1718, when wire kopeck production finally ceased.