Ivan the Terrible 1533-1584

Under Ivan the Terrible, there were 4 monetary yards (previously, a mint was called a monetary one, “A monetary yard is an enterprise in Russia that minted coins. Known since the 14th century, they were present in most of the great and appanage principalities” - Big Encyclopedic Dictionary, therefore for the time before the 18th century , the word “monetary” is often used instead of “monetary”). Under Ivan the Terrible, coins were minted in Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov and Tver. The minting of state coins was allowed only in money courts; private masters were a thing of the past (as Herberstein wrote in “Notes on Muscovy”). Before Ivan the Terrible, each principality or even some individual cities (Novgrod, Pskov, Torzhok) minted its own coin, i.e. very often they had different weights, different images, and different exchange rates. Because of this, there were difficulties with calculations; they had to be weighed, and the images were different, which also introduced uncertainty. Under Ivan IV the Terrible, coinage became centralized, i.e. one image and weight for each denomination for the entire territory of Rus'.

Elena Glinskaya is the mother of Ivan the Terrible. Ivan the Terrible had officially ruled since 1533, but he was born in 1530, so his mother was appointed regent. A regent is a ruler who rules the country while the sovereign is a minor. The famous reform of 1535 to bring coins to one type was carried out during her reign. The distribution of coins of the same weight and image began back in the 20s of the 15th century, great progress was made under Ivan III (1462-1505), he is called the “gatherer of Russian lands”, he annexed many principalities to Moscow, thereby stopping the minting of various appanage coins princes and coins of the Moscow principality were introduced. And Elena Glinskaya continued the monetary reform and brought it to the final stage (Melnikova, 1989, p. 14). In the Nikon Chronicle they wrote about the reform, “Old money, both counterfeit and cut, should be remade, but counterfeit and cut money should not be used” (Melnikova, 1989, p. 16).

In addition to carrying out monetary reform, she strengthened the borders with new fortresses. The construction of Kitay-Gorod in Moscow began. Under Elena Glinskaya, the attack of Poland and Lithuania in 1534-1537 was repelled. A free trade agreement was concluded with Sweden. In 1538, Elena Glinskaya died at the age of 30, most likely she was poisoned. In 1547, Ivan the Terrible began to independently rule the country, from 1533 to 1547 they wrote “Prince the Great Ivan...” on the coins, and after 1547 “Tsar and Prince the Great Ivan...”, in general, where is the word “Tsar”, this is with 1547. For the first time, a Russian ruler was named Tsar and underwent the coronation ceremony. "Grozny" is a nickname for the nature of his rule. Ivan the Terrible is famous for almost doubling the territory of Russia by annexing the khanates remaining from the Tatar-Mongol invasion, such as the Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberian Khanates.

On coins with a denomination of 1 kopeck, a horseman with a saber and a horseman with a spear were first depicted (kopecks with a saber are the earliest, they were minted at the very beginning of the reform of 1535 - from information on the analysis of the treasure from the book of Melnikov, 1989, pp. 21,22), and then on kopecks only a horseman with a spear was depicted, hence the name “kopek”, from the word “spear”. A horseman with a saber began to be depicted on the money, and a bird on the coins. How can you distinguish a “saber” penny if the money also had a rider with a saber? The answer is by weight and size. A saber kopeck weighs 2 times more than a saber money.

Weight standards were established: 1 kopeck 0.68 g, denga (Moskovka) - 0.34 g, half - 0.17 g. Denga was called “Moskovka” because it was minted at the Moscow Monetary Court. And the kopecks were called “Novgorodki” because they were minted in Novgorod (Melnikova, 1989, p. 21 excerpt from the chronicle).

The letters “PSK” in the saber/sword kopeck, according to Melnikova (1989, p. 23), are not the letters of the money court, denoting “PSKOV”; perhaps these are the initials of the money master (?) as in the Coins of Ivan III, the “Zamanin” type. Also because saber kopecks are almost never found in PSKOV treasures, but they are found a lot in Moscow ones.