Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Kopeck - Peter I
| Issuer | Imperial Russian Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1704 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Kopeck (1 Копейка) (0.01) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Obverse of this wire money kopeck depicts a mounted equestrian figure of the Tsar in profile, shown riding rightward with a lance or spear raised, rendered in the traditional schematic style characteristic of Russian chekanka wire coinage. The design is struck on an irregularly shaped flan produced by cutting a silver wire blank, resulting in an oval-to-shield-like planchet with uneven edges. The relief is bold but roughly executed, with the figural motif occupying the majority of the available field. The Cyrillic date inscription ҂АΨД (1704) appears in the field alongside the equestrian device. The overall artistic style reflects the late wire money tradition of Muscovite coinage, combining functional simplicity with iconographic continuity. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Царь Петр Алексеевич |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The 1704 kopeck marks a turning point in Russian monetary history — Peter I that year overhauled the entire coinage system, introducing a decimal structure that predated Britain's by over 150 years. Before this reform, small-denomination exchange relied on wire-cut "fish scale" kopecks hammered from silver rod, a medieval technique unchanged for two centuries. The new machine-struck coinage was part of Peter's broader campaign to modernize Russia along Western European lines, with equipment and expertise imported largely from the Dutch and Saxon mints.
At 0.28g, these coins were almost absurdly small in hand. Many were hoarded immediately upon issue, skeptical subjects preferring the familiar wire pieces they knew.