Kopeck - Peter I

Peter I's wire kopecks — the chekanka series — were among the last coins produced using the ancient medieval technique of hammering flat a sliver of silver wire and striking it with hand-held dies. By 1710 the type was already being phased out; Peter had introduced Western-style milled coinage by 1704, and these wire pieces survived only because rural populations and small traders distrusted the new machine-made money. The 1710 date places this among the final years of production before the wire kopeck was formally discontinued in 1718.