Kopeck - Peter I

Peter I's wire kopecks — struck by the ancient chekanka method, in which silver wire was cut into small slugs and hammered between dies — were already obsolete by 1712. Peter had introduced Western-style milled coinage in 1700, and these hand-struck pieces were being phased out precisely because their irregular shape made them easy to clip and difficult to counterfeit-proof. The 1712 issue falls among the final years of production before the wire kopeck was formally abolished.