Kopeck Second people's militia, Moscow, M

Issued under the authority of the Second People's Militia — the zemstvo force organized by Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky — this kopeck belongs to one of the most turbulent intervals in Russian history: the Time of Troubles, when the Muscovite state had effectively collapsed, a Polish garrison occupied the Kremlin, and no legitimate tsar sat on the throne. The militia operated its own mint at Moscow after recapturing parts of the city in 1612, striking wire money in the name of the "Council of All the Land" rather than any individual sovereign.

The Moscow mint attribution distinguishes this piece from militia issues struck at Yaroslavl during the campaign's earlier phase.