Ancient coins of Kievan Rus. Coins of ancient Russia (19 photos)

It is generally accepted to consider the beginning of Russian statehood as 882 AD, when the Novgorod prince Oleg and his retinue took the city of Kiev. It is from this moment that the official history of our state begins. Like other countries, from the very beginning, not only state bodies appeared in Russia, but also money.

The oldest coins found in Russia are Byzantine silver and gold coins.

On the one hand, the coin depicted a portrait of the emperor, on the other, various images, inscriptions and the denomination of the coin could occupy. It was this type of coin that was taken as a model in Russia. It is thanks to the Byzantines that we have such a modern look of the coin in real Russia.

Epochs and rulers, coats of arms and names changed, and Russia developed and prospered, and with it the coin evolved.

The beginning of minting coins directly in Russia leads us, grateful descendants, to Kievan Rus, where approximately at the end of the 10th century “Srebrenik” appears. The coin depicted the Kiev prince, and next to him the coat of arms of the Rurikovichs - a soaring falcon in the form of a trident.

However, a full-fledged workshop for the production of coins in Russia at that time did not appear. The main currency was a silver bar called the hryvnia.

In the thirteenth century, the technique of making money changes. Now coins began to be made from silver wire. Hence the name “Ruble”, familiar to all of us, comes from the fact that the ingots were “chopped” from wire. The dimensions of the ingots varied in weight and shape. Moscow and Novgorod issued their own rubles. Coins were made from the ruble.

But it was all handicraft production. The first mass coins in Russia began to be made at the beginning of the fifteenth century in Moscow, then in the Suzdal principality, and then in Ryazan and Tver. The first Moscow coins depicted mainly Dmitry Donskoy, but often there are coins depicting horsemen, warriors with weapons in their hands, animals, both existing and mythical. This was due to the fact that as such a mint did not exist, and the coins were produced by silversmiths, whom the prince personally allowed to mint coins to replenish the monetary fund. Even county princes and wealthy boyars minted coins in this way. On the other side of the Moscow coins, there was an inscription in the Tatar language. The fact is that already at that time Muscovy was actively conquering the markets of the Volga region, where the main language was Tatar, so the money was “multilingual”. This bore fruit, in the second half of the fifteenth century and before the incorporation of these lands into Russia, the Russian ancient coin called "dengoy" readily retained the leadership in the region and was analogous to the dollar in the modern world.

With the centralization of the state and the creation of an internal market, money began to be minted only with Russian inscriptions, and the need to distribute money abroad has disappeared.

The next milestone in the history of copper money in Russia is considered to be 1534, the year when the monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya ends. Now in Russia they began to mint money of a single state standard. A horseman with a spear was depicted on the coin, hence the new name - "penny". The kopeck became for a long time the largest coin of the Moscow kingdom.

Silver became the only material for making money for a long time. Many tsars tried to carry out a monetary reform, copper money was introduced, and Vasily Shuisky even issued the first gold money, but all this was a drop in the ocean and often failed. Thus, the copper revolt even received a separate chapter in history and Moscow studies textbooks.

The next step in the development of Russian money was made by the reformer Tsar Peter Alekseevich Romanov, better known as Emperor Peter I. In 1704, Peter carried out a monetary reform. Silver ruble coins, fifty rubles, half rubles, a dime, a penny with the inscription "Ten money" and Altyn equal to three kopecks appear.

Now, on one side of the royal coin, a two-headed eagle was depicted - the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, as was customary in all European countries. Since 1730, the coat of arms of the Moscow kingdom - George the Victorious - appears on the body of the eagle.

In addition to silver, work was carried out on a copper coin. The fact is that during the entire reign of Peter I, the search for the denomination of a copper coin was carried out, so copper of this period often changed in weight and shape.

The further development of the coin in Russia was increasing. Coins became larger in volume, more valuable in weight, the image of the emperors became more clear and skillful.

With the development of the state, paper money gradually began to appear, the first appeared in the Russian Empire during the reign of Mother Empress Catherine II. The final point of coinage in the Russian Empire was 1917, the First World War, the revolution. The Russian economy of that period was characterized by the phrase of I.A. Vyshnegradsky, Minister of Finance of Russia in 1887-1892, "We will not finish eating, but we will take out."

In 1915, it got to the point that there were no shells and cartridges in the tsarist army, soldiers of some units were given axes on long sticks to repel the attacks of the Germans and Austrians. In the country, the rich grew richer and the poor became increasingly poorer. This state of affairs led to the revolution in February 1917, when the bourgeois circles took advantage of the situation, and to the Great October Socialist Revolution. The new government quickly realized the need for its own, new money. Coins of the Soviet era will be discussed in another article ...

Ancient Russia largely copied the achievements of the Byzantine Empire, and money was no exception.
At the end of the 10th century, under Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the first coins in Russia began to be minted - silver coins. In size and weight, they corresponded to the Byzantine ones, the same production technologies were used, but the inscriptions were Russian, and a princely sign was also added. Currently, only about 400 of these coins are known, they are considered rarities and almost all of them are kept in museums.

Around the same time, goldsmiths appeared, copying the Byzantine gold solidi. The images on silver coins and gold coins are very similar. Under the next rulers, only silver coins were minted, the latter date back to the time of Yaroslav the Wise. Later, for unknown reasons, the minting of their own coins ceased for three centuries.

Russia did not always have coins of its own, and this is well known. Calculations were made both for services and goods. For a long time, furs were the equivalent. The imperial denarius (Rome), and the eastern dirham, and even the Byzantine solid were also present. But the era of own money has steadily arrived. So....

Silvermen

The first of the coins minted in Russia was named a silversmith. She appeared in the days of the book. Vladimir, before Epiphany. The lack of a bargaining chip began to be felt especially acutely, there were not enough dirhams. The material was silver from the remelting of the latter.

Silver pieces were minted in two types of designs. At first it was a copy of the Byzantine solidi idea: on the one hand, the throne prince. Vladimir, with the reverse - Jesus. The design later changed. The face of the Messiah disappeared. His place was taken by the trident, the family coat of arms of Rurik. The portrait of the prince was surrounded by the inscription: "Prince Volodymyr is on the throne, and this is his money."

Spools (Zlatniki)

Zlatnik (980-1015)

Goldsmiths were present in the course, as were the silversmiths. Their minting was also developed by the book. Vladimir. Only coins were poured, as the name suggests, in gold. The Byzantine solidus served as the prototype for the goldsmith. The mass was quite impressive - 4 g.

It was a rather rare and expensive coin in a very limited edition. However, popular rumor keeps its name in folklore to this day. Modern numismatists can present to the public no more than a dozen gold coins. That is why their price is very high, both on the official and on the black market.

Hryvnia

It was the hryvnia that became a truly independent official monetary unit of Russia. It arose in the 9-10th century. It was a weighty gold or silver ingot. But it was, rather, a standard of mass than a monetary unit. With the help of the hryvnia, the weights of precious metals were measured.

The hryvnias of Kiev had 160 g of mass and a hexagonal honeycomb shape. The money of Novgorod was a long bar weighing 200 g. However, the name did not change due to the difference in appearance. The Tatars also used the hryvnia that went to the Volga region. It was called that, "Tatar", had the shape of a boat.

The name of the money comes from a completely unrelated object - a female neckband, which was performed by jewelers in gold. The decoration was worn on the "mane". Hence - "hryvnia".

Vekshi

A perfect analogue of the current penny, the Old Russian veksha! Its other names are squirrel, veveritsa. There is an interesting explanation for the first version. It says that while the small silver coin was in circulation, its "natural" counterpart was a tanned squirrel skin.

The chronicles mention that the ancient tribute from some tribes was "one squirrel or a coin from one house." By the way, one hryvnia was equivalent to 150 veksha.

Coons

The reversal of the eastern dichrem is a historical fact. Denarius was no less popular. The Russians called both of them "kuns". Why?

There are two explanations. First, the equivalent of both coins was dressed and branded maroon skins. By the way, they were very valuable, even at that time. Second: the English word "coin" (sounds: "coin"), translated - "coin".

Rezany

Rezans were called "monetary units" designed to calculate as accurately as possible. For example, marten skins were divided into pieces in order to adjust them to a certain price of the product. It was these patches that were called "rezanami" (emphasis on the second "a").
And since the fur skin and the Arabian dirham were equivalent, the coin was also divided into parts. To this day, halves and even quarters of dirhams are found in ancient Russian hoards, because the Arab coin was too large for small trade transactions.

Today archaeologists often find halves and quarters of these coins in ancient hoards. Arab money had a fairly large denomination to operate with it as a whole in small transactions.

Legs

Nogata, small change, 1/20 hryvnia. Its name, according to philologists and historians, came from the Estonian "nahat" ("fur"). It is possible that the legs were originally "tied" to furs.

With all the variety of coins in Russia, the fact that any trade item was "tied" to its own money is quite remarkable. Evidence of this has in its text "The Lay of Igor's Campaign." It says that if Vsevolod were on the throne, the slave would be valued in the leg, and the slave would be sold for a cut.

In Russia, coins have been in circulation since the 1st century, however, the basis of the money supply was made up of products from other states, brought by merchants and soldiers. Among the many coins one could easily find thalers from German lands, dirhams from Arab countries.

The first old Russian coins

In the annals of Kiev and Novgorod, for the first time, there are mentions of Slavic metal money:

Coons

Legs

Rezany;
Faithful.

If we talk about their course, historians suggest the following relationship: hryvnia \u003d 20 nogatam \u003d 25 kunam \u003d 50 rezanam. The smallest unit was a veveritsa (veksha, squirrel), in the hryvnia there were 150 veveritsy or a third of a gram of silver. In turn, the kuna already weighed 2 grams of silver and gave the name "kunnaya" to the entire monetary system of Ancient Rus. Its name comes from the marten animal, whose fur was a widespread commodity for exchange with foreigners. This coin was in circulation until the 15th century, its purchasing power was 1/50 hryvnia.

The reign of Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (978-1015) was marked by the exit of the first Russians coins from precious metals:

On the obverse of metallic money there was a depiction of a prince sitting on a throne, and on the reverse - the face of Jesus Christ, copied from the solidi of the Byzantine Empire.

On the following coins, which were minted by Svyatopolk and Yaroslav the Wise in Novgorod, a prince's bident or trident was depicted as a symbol of the power of a particular ruler. In 1019 Yaroslav the Wise stopped minting metal money.

The rarest silversmiths of Mikhail (Oleg) Svyatoslavovich, who ruled in Tmutarakan, were minted in 1078. On the obverse of the coin there was an image of the Archangel Michael, and on the reverse there was a carved inscription “Lord help Michael”. The last princely silversmiths appeared in 1094, after which a coinless period of almost two centuries began in Russia.

Coins of Russia XII-XIV centuries

Only in the middle of the 12th century on the territory of Russia appear again its own silver money. They received the general name "hryvnia", although they differed significantly in weight and shape:

The hryvnia of the Kiev principality was a diagonally elongated rhombus weighing 160 grams;

Chernihiv hryvnias weighed 196 grams, they were more symmetrical, had sharp edges and edges;

In the Volga region, they paid with "hryvnia-soms", their appearance resembled a boat, and the weight was almost 200 grams;
The principality of Lithuania made its own torcs in the form of sticks with wide dents across;
weighed 200 grams were made in the form of slightly elongated bars.

The first ruble appears in Russia in the 12th century. They made it very straightforward: a silver rod weighing about a hryvnia was cut into 4 equal parts. This is where the name of the domestic Russian currency came from, which has remained with us to this day. Notches were placed on each part of the ruble, according to which the weight was calculated.

From about the end of the 13th century, the hryvnia from Novgorod was also called rubles. ½ of this hryvnia got the name "poltina". For the first time, the names of the craftsmen who cast the ingots appeared on the coins of that time. But on half of the 14-15th century, they already put real brands, letters of the name of the prince and images, which today allows numismatists to more accurately calculate the age and place of production of coins.

Unlike the ruble and the hryvnia, the coins of small denomination were all entirely imported:

Drachmas;
Guilders;
Pfennigi;
And others, including fragments and debris.

Usually in the west of the country there were coins of the European type in circulation, while in the east - the money of the Golden Horde.

By the middle of the 14th century, the minting of silver coins with the simple name "money" was launched in scattered Russian lands. They were made from both ingots and by stamping the Golden Horde coins, in a great variety of them that were found at that time. New hallmarks and letters of the Greek alphabet were put on the money, emphasizing their Slavic origin. Smaller coins “quarters” and “half-dengs” were also made of silver, weighing a quarter or half of the money, respectively. Some princes minted their own small copper coin “pools”, which served for settlements within their lands.

On the money of Novgorod there was a two-figure composition and the inscription "Veliky Novgorod". This appearance of the coin was preserved for almost 50 years, until 1478. Money was minted in Torzhok, as well as in Pskov. On the latter, the inscription "Denga of Pskov" was engraved.

The unified monetary system in Russia was formed at the end of the 15th century. It contained two types of coins: Novgorod and Moscow. One ruble was equal to one hundred "Novgorodoks" or two hundred "Muscovites" or four hundred "polushki". One hryvnia of silver weighing 204.75 grams was used to mint coins worth 2.6 rubles. In 1530, one ruble was equal to 100 kopecks, two fifty, 10 hryvnias. For three kopecks they gave altyn, and for a kopeck - 2 money or 4 polushki.

In the days of Ancient Russia, silver was imported from other countries, there was no silver of its own in Russia. In this regard, coin mugs were not made of silver, but simply cut into pieces of wire, flattened with a hammer, and an image was applied with a blow of the stamp. Coins made in this way were not quite even, often generally shapeless, and the image on them was not always clear. The main advantage of this method of coin production is wastelessness. After all, then they tried to use every grain of valuable material. The value of silver in relation to gold was 10: 1, while now it is 60: 1. Silver in those days was very expensive. Therefore, even with the smallest silver money, they gave change: the coin itself was cut into two, sometimes even into three parts. Later, in order to solve the problem of change, they began to use copper minting, and the production technology was the same as that of silver minting.

Any city, even the most seedy one, minted its own coins. Weight, as well as their sample, at the same time directly depended on the welfare of the city itself. If there was not enough metal, then the length of the wire decreased, the coins became thinner and became like fish scales. Most of the items were no more than 10 millimeters. Only a few letters were stamped on them, a fragment of the image. It was impossible to read and make out what's what. Yes, and holding such coins in your hands was inconvenient, it was even more difficult to count them: they constantly stuck to your hands, slipped out, fell, and it was very difficult to find them on the ground. Even today with a metal detector, finding such coins is a difficult task.

Coins of the Ryazan principality

Names of ancient Russian coins
All the names of coins from the times of Ancient Rus, such as denga, pulo, have Turkic roots. The counting measure "altyn", the "usual" container for treasures - a chest - are also Turkic words. Despite the fact that some scholars argue that "pulo" comes from the Latin word "follis" (they say they used to measure money in bags), in fact it is of Turkic origin and is translated as "fish scale". And today in Turkic this word has two meanings: both "scales" and "money". Peter I called these small coins "old lice". To get rid of them, he carried out a monetary reform, after which the coins became much larger and it is much easier to detect them with a metal detector today.

Old Russian coins as an indicator of the economic situation in the country
Images, inscriptions on coins, their weight and composition were a direct reflection of the economic and political situation in the country, an indicator of the state of monetary circulation. Redistribution of power between the princes, the death of many of them in the XIV-XV centuries. was so fast that the princes did not have time to mint coins with their own image. Yes, and the chroniclers did not have time to write everything down and pass it on to posterity. For example, historians can judge about the Gorodenskoye principality with the capital Gorodeno only by the inscriptions on the coins, and the location of the principality - by the place of their discovery. Gorodensky princes were called "great". It seems that archaeologists have yet to discover the grand-ducal city, which is “lost” somewhere in the Tver forests.

goldsmith of Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (Hermitage)

History in old coins
15th century coins very different from those that were minted in later years. At that time, Dual faith prevailed (paganism had not yet completely retreated under the onslaught of Christianity). Pagan beliefs found their reflection in money. The coins depicted the state symbols of the ancient Russian principalities. Such, for example, as the firebird, the sacred drake, werewolves (wolf lags), two-headed eagles were depicted on coins even before the approval of this symbol by Ivan III, the heads of the rounds, dragons, the "red sun" (kreens), griffins, horned devils, snakes, etc. So it turns out that the declared victory in the X century. Christianity is highly questionable. Let the ancient churches of the two faiths have long been destroyed, the chronicles have been rewritten, but coins with pagan symbols cannot be changed. True, with the seizure of Tver, the Muscovites made an attempt to alter the ancient coins and close the pagan firebird with the letter "D" (maybe the very first name is "money"?). Therefore, do not be surprised if on coins of the 15th century. under the letter "D" here and there a beak or a bird's tail peeps out. Not on coins of the 15th century. archangels, saints, crucifixes and other Christian symbols. The rider on horseback with a spear, whom many take for "George the Victorious", did not immediately begin to be depicted with a defeated snake. So it turns out that there is no pagan symbolism, but the Christian one still needs to be “seen”, “thought out”.

On the events of the past centuries, hasty conclusions were also often drawn. Often, the coin legend was interpreted incorrectly, and only with the discovery of a second of the same coin with another surviving fragment, the search engines managed to draw up a whole truthful picture. True, there are no fewer questions with each new find. For example, it is still unclear why in the "Lay of Igor's Campaign" some coins "nogaty", "kunas", "cut" are mentioned. Also, on the discovered coins of the Gorodensky principality, the inscriptions are encrypted, on the early coins of the Moscow principality they wrote both in Russian and in Arabic. While in Tver the inscriptions were minted only in Russian. At the same time, it is impossible to write off all the questions as the engravers' mistakes. Many ancient Russian coins discovered by seekers contain images of animals taken from Varangian and Scandinavian myths. Russian coins of the XI-XIII centuries. none were found. European shillings and pence were in use at that time. It remains a mystery why. So far, scientists put forward only assumptions. The secret can only be revealed with the help of new finds. Will the general public learn the truth about the history of the Slavic, Fino-Ugric tribes? This is a very big question.

Therefore, all ancient coins found are so valued by historians. You will not find two identical copies of those times. The inscriptions on some old coins still confuse researchers today.

The most amazing thing is that these invaluable for historians exhibits have been right under our feet for seven hundred years. Some coins under a cultural layer without oxygen, at the bottom of rivers, etc. can be stored for centuries.

Unfortunately, there are also many such coins that lie in the upper soil layer in fields and vegetable gardens. There, unique, they are crushed by tractors, destroyed during digging with shovels, fertilizing the earth with nitrogen-containing compounds, poisons, and moisture gets on them during digging, and access to air opens. Sometimes old coins lie right on the surface, constantly oxidizing and completely decaying over the years. It often happens that there are many coins in the sand raised from the bottom of the river, but all of them, together with the sand, go to an asphalt or concrete plant. Rare coins are walled up in the walls of high-rise buildings, in the asphalt of roads. So, the only Uglich pullo found was found by a worker in a heap of sand that was raised from the bottom of the Moskva River. If this worker had not been vigilant and the world would not have known that their own money was minted in Uglich. To save ancient coins from disappearance and complete destruction is not even a goal, but the duty of every search engine with a metal detector.

You can find ancient Russian coins almost throughout the entire Central Russian territory of Russia. The topography of the finds suggests that newfangled theories are wrong. Because they claim that before the Russians owned all the lands from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans, including part of Africa, all of India, China ("Empire", M. 1998). There are no finds on these lands and that's it. And nothing can be done about it. The theory of the "Cossack-Tatar Horde" also raises great doubts. Not a single scale has been found in Monogolia, Central Asia. Therefore, we, Russian search engines, will have to collect these small scales.