Kopeck - Peter I

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.