Srebrennik - Vladimir the Great type I

The srebrennik was struck under Vladimir Sviatoslavich following his conversion to Byzantine Christianity in 988 — a political realignment so total that it restructured Kyivan coinage, diplomacy, and ecclesiastical authority simultaneously. Before Vladimir, Rus rulers had no native silver coinage at all; the srebrennik was an assertion of sovereign minting rights modeled explicitly on Byzantine miliaresia, down to the fabric and module.

Type I is the earliest of four recognized types and the rarest in any condition. Surviving examples are predominantly excavation finds, typically corroded and fragmentary, which means problem-free specimens are genuinely exceptional rather than merely scarce by registry standards.