Russia's copper-to-silver wire coinage of this period was produced by a hammer-striking method — the so-called "chekanka" technique — using hand-cut slivers of wire flattened between dies, which explains the characteristic irregular flan shapes endemic to the type. These were struck jointly in the names of the co-tsars Peter and Ivan V following the Streltsy revolt of 1682, which placed the two half-brothers on the throne simultaneously under the regency of their sister Sophia. Ivan V was largely ceremonial; cognitive and physical infirmities meant real authority never rested with him.
Pieces bearing Ivan's name alone, rather than Peter's, are the scarcer subset of the joint coinage.
Russia's copper-to-silver wire coinage of this period was produced by a hammer-striking method — the so-called "chekanka" technique — using hand-cut slivers of wire flattened between dies, which explains the characteristic irregular flan shapes endemic to the type. These were struck jointly in the names of the co-tsars Peter and Ivan V following the Streltsy revolt of 1682, which placed the two half-brothers on the throne simultaneously under the regency of their sister Sophia. Ivan V was largely ceremonial; cognitive and physical infirmities meant real authority never rested with him.
Pieces bearing Ivan's name alone, rather than Peter's, are the scarcer subset of the joint coinage.