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by FRANK A. LAPA ~_

TiU.6 6-i.Mt ec/.U.{.ol1 06

RUSSIAN WIRE MONEY

By FJulnk A. La.pa.

.{,6 UlnUed to 1000 Copiel>

06 wlUc.h tIU.6 .{,6

COpy NO. I

R U 5 5 I A N '"

W IRE

• MONEY 'J I

By

Frank A. Lapa

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A BRIEF-------------------WIRE KOPECKS struck from long t o that thin threads of silver wire, dies

used in ancient coin striking (I ll . A), silver wire was in­serted and the blow of the rrallet would sever each end . A great rrany times half the design i s shown-- -doubl e and triple strikes are quite common . Nearly blank with a partial design rerraining is typical of the crude minting process .

were similar

Wire Kopecks generally range in condition of Fine or Very Fine , rarely Extremel y Fine . Some are hol ed , which does not detract from their numisrrat i c value , and they are collected right along with other specimens in one ' s collection. Condi tion is not that all important when collecting Wire Money, although i t must be clear and readabl e .

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction _________________________________________ 3 Mint Marks 4 Rarity Symbols and Price Evaluation 5 Coinage Before Wire Kopecks 6 Ivan IV (Gospodar Type) 7 Ivan IV (Denga) 8 Ivan IV as Tsar 8 Feodor Ivanovich 9 Boris Godunov 10 Dimitri (The Impostor) 11 Shuisky Kopeck Dated 1605 11 Vasilei Shuisky 12 Vladislav Vasa 1 3 House of Romanov - First Tsar 1 3 Alexie Mikhailovi ch 14 Copper Inflation Kopeck 14 Pete r (The Great) 15 Russ ian Date Chart 16 Bibliography 16

3.

INTRODUcrION

Thi s i s not intended t o be a catal og - it i s designed for those interested in Russia ' s early coinage , "WIRE KOPECKS " and to enable the reader to attribute these kopecks without knowledge of the Russian language .

The information has been gathered from the s tudy of several accumulations which I was fortunate enough to purchase , enabling me t o make a closer perusal of each

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A text , in English, perta ining to Russian Wipe Kopecks has been l ong overdue . There are a great number in other languages which are rarely offered f or sale . (The serious student would do well to obtain CHAUDOIR and SCHUBERT. )

Wi pe Kopecks are not rare but it i s rather uncommon t o f ind them in the average deal er ' s stock . Most often you will find a wipe kopeck incorporated in an Odd & Curious exhi bit because of the nature of s ize and the minting procedures. The easiest obtainable kopecks are those of IVAN IV or PETER the GREAT , either priced at under 4 dol lars - however, a value of over 20 doJ13rs may be placed on t he kopeck by the unknowledgeable seller .

I have attempted t o formulate a RaM.t1f Sc.ale, based strictly on my own experi ence regarding avail ability .

My sincere Numismatic appreciation is extended to : Wm . Petrosky for whose expert assistance and counsel I am much indebted ; and Carl Subak my principle source in obtaining the accumulations of AR Kopecks . Thank you .

June 1967

COPYRIGHT 1967 by Frank A. Lapa

Frank A. lapa

All Ri ght s Reserved -- No portion of thi s bookl et may • be repr i nt ed without written permission of Frank A. Lapa .

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Major mint marks t hat appear on The obverse bel ow rider on horseback :

NOTE : Whe n no mint mark appear s , usually struck in the capita l during the Ruler ' s reign .

MOSCOW MINT The following are typi cal of the var i ants for the Moscmv mint . Other variants are known •

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.....oc. M "MS(DW "OV' I . 7. .....

1'10 51'10(..1'84 .....

2 . B . "0

...e-t Me On ... IE~

3 · b ""6A + VAR IANT5

NOVGOROD MINT Other varia nts are known .

\-10 ~ . I-I I PSKOV MINT

, , I IC-I . z.

lIE-n"k ~( [~~~] 3. 4 .

"'Thi,s , type mint mark appears on the reverse under l eg1'; "Ivan as Prince . Ge nerally other init-ia1~vc"'" ~.ar in t he l oca:: i o? where the mint marks appear I< " . -h are abbrevlatlons f or name of ruler, initials of ' . ~ mint master or denomination - few examples are U "' fC)llows:

- " .. .. Ia z.Mlif 3.11E I-, I Ie::. -L· --' (1f~fR

, >' . ~AH ~. rp -1A· +INITIALS , . •

The f ollowing is a theor '~ _. . .1 deflm tlOn of these abbreviations , which are uncerta in or unknown t o other researchers as well -

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•• •• •• 4 . S . ," . •• GPIINP NOT SMRJ..L PI/NcE PKIN~$ ~IINJ) M /,off

" - - DA .... - . ~o.eP KNOWN OGN~n I vnN' /" ORP SOY,i"K£"1 MAS'1T~

NOTE: Many times a part of the rider or horse may be not connecting and will appear as a let ter as the rider ' s foot could be taken for an "L"; als o , the cape t o the l eft may look like a scroll behind the rider .

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RARITY SYMBOLS Prices for

Clear Readable Coins

• Not Corrm::m ___ _ __ _ ____ 3 . 00 t o 5. 00

\SI Very Scarce _ _ . _____ 3 . 75 to 7 . 00

Rare _ _________ _ __ 1 0 . 00 t o 14 . 00

___ .. _____ 10.00 t o 17 . 00

Rare ___ ______ 40 . 00 to -----

The above are Rarity Types .

For date , symbol will be keyed with "D" as ~ or conditi on keyed with " C" as ~c. When a combina-

tion type and condition and/or date will have tail on

l eft as or

"V " For origin not c l ear or unknown will be keyed as .

For Occupation Coinage abbrevi ati on oc. will ' _r_ used

and may appear as oc VI or oc.+ wr .. ,t - . ~ the

case may be .

Other abbreviations could be . denotes coins from -

an earthen hoard; AE = cL , " , -AR . , silver . - - --- ... -

Kopecks s truck in Gold exist, not intended for circula-

tion but rather for presentation purposes and are

---- --------- - - -- .. ----

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TVER

Line drawings L . 1, 2, J , 4 and 5 are t he general types issued during the Re i gn of Pri nce Michel BorissQvitch, 1461-1485; termed as (AE) PUL. coi nage , actual denomi na­t i on unknown . Al l AE TVER coi nage i s extremely crude whereas t he few f:rom several hundred that have been in my possessi on VX)ul d be cons idered VERY FINE . It was necessary t o enl arge the drawi ngs t o real i ze t he entire des i gn . Drawi ng L. 1 - St anding Bowman, 16mm round av­er age , the s i ze may vary i n sever a l mi l limeter s l ar ger . L. 2 - Uncer tain as to anima l speci e , ass ume i t t o be ei ther a Wolf or Deer, approximatel y 15mm . L. 3 - A spread- winged Eagl e , 6x12mm, usually elon­gat ed , healthier condition and mor e defined then the

• lat ter examples . L. 4 - Si de view R. of Bird , 10x15mm av-erage . All seem to be in a • poor state of preservation . L. 5 - Highly styli zed s ide view of Duck hol ding s tem with beak, 8xlOmm and 7x13mm . This i s perhaps the best executed design of all the TVER iss ue

. (which consists of over 200 di fferent types) . Have f ound only a few which are r ound with all the design s howing , al l other s are s truck off-cent er with little of th i s interes ting des i gn showing . A good propor ­tion average VERY FINE whi ch l eads one to believe these wer e

. s truck in the later 1480 ' s . L.6 - This i s the only copper coi n i ssued in the reign of IVAN III . One of the earlies t examples s howing t he Double­Headed Eagl e which was adopted from the Byzantine Empine and later made part of the Rus s ian Coat - of - Arms .

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L. 7 IVAN IV as GRAND PRINCE

ri£ BERII-(

'AflIPb B V' py

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1533-1547 KOPE CK (GOSPODAR)

9x13mm

OBV. Crowned Prince with downwarU lance .

REV.

PRINCE -{------1 GRAND

LORD OF ALL RUSSIA

The three (3) Major Types of IVAN: L . 7 ~ Gospodar = Sovere; gn

(no name of Monarch on coin) L. 8 Grand Prince (Denga only) L . 9 . Tsar

1533-1547 1533-1547 1547-1584

NOTE : All Wire Kopecks have vari ants in the legends, usual ly continuation of the second line on the first line . Example : KHSba M:Jst .often when a bi t off- center several letters may not show . In any case enough letteri ng remains to attrib­ute for the ruler whereas the obverse may be so centered if a mint mark were to be on this kopeck it w:lUld not be visibl e . For all prac­t i cal purposes have found i t easier to place the l etteri ng side by s i de i n t his manner -

JlW t IlllfJJf:~n!!9J!C~.'f~ a l ittl e practice you are abl e to train your eye to pi ck out vari ous l etters gi ving you the clue to the ruler. The obverses can be decei v­i ng as i t appears rarel y two obverses look the same . Wit h the exception of IVAN as PRINCE , the Denga coi nage has the same charact eri s t ic appearance .

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L. B IVAN IV as GRAND PRINCE 1533-1547 DENGA (1/2 Kopeck)

Approx. 6 to Bmm.

DBV. Uncrowned Prince hol ding upri ght saber .

REV.

PRINCE -t+---i GRAND

IVAN PSK

Mint mark lTC.1( does not appear on all Denga coins .

This swag line, ' appears on other kopecks also , above or below a legend - more often above - its purpose not known .

L. 9 IVAN IV as TSAR (Better known as

IVAN the TERRIBLE) 1547-1584 KOPECK

9x13mm

OB V . Wearing Crown, Robe, with

. downward lance.

REV.

TSAR AND PRINCE GRAND IVAN OF ALL RUSSIA

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L . 10 ~ TSAR FEODOR IVANOVICH 1584-1598 KOPECK

Pbl1l{ 10x14mm

£ b BE II I1 ~::~ AND

11 rf'lLOlI +----l PRINCE GRAND W~ FEODOR

OF ALL RUSSIA

KOPECK OBVERSE is TYPICAL throughout. Ruler on horseback R, wearing crown with ceremonial robes, striking down with lance. -

REVERSES OF DENGA (1/2 Kopeck ) I L.10A <e> . L.10B <e>

TSAR AND PRINCE GRAND FEODOR

TSAR ;-----j AND GRAND

PRINCE THEDOR

" 15£

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L . 11 ~ TSAR BORI S

1598-1605

FEODOROVI CH GODUNOV

10 t o 12mm Round or 14x 11 1T1ll

REV.

TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE BORI S THEDOROVI CH OF ALL RUSS IA

Godunov Kopecks have rrore varieties of mint marks an:! other abbreviations that appear on the obverse than any other rul er . Average condi tion VERY FINE and have fow1d several in EF with luster remaining .

NOTE: Up to the t i me of this wr iting I have not found any dat ed Kopecks of Godunov . Therefore , it will be necessary to refer to Dr . Lang ' s notes wi t h r eference to dat i ng .

OBV. Below rider it will read 1'8 = 1599 Derived fran 7107 from t he Creation = Date .

L. 11A -% Pi} 7107 - 1599 L.11B u I 7110 - 1602 L . llC ~ PAl 7111 - 1603 L. llD ~ P6l ae 6 7112 - 1604 L.llE ~ prI 7113 - 1605

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L . 1 2~TSAR DIMITRI IVANOVICH (The False Demetrius or The Impos tor)

1604-1606 KO PECK* (Dengas are not known)

REV.

TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE DMITRE IVAN OVICH OF ALL RUSSIA

*Dated Kopecks are said t o exist but I am dubious of I this . I

EXPLANATION OF SHUISKY KOPECK DATED 1605 Trans 1 ati on from SPASKY .. " During the period from 1611 t o

Dated 1605 Obverse of SHUISKY

1617 Sweden occupied tie Russian c i ty of NOVGOROD . The coinage which was i n circulation in that period was made by striking the reverse of the coins from the ol d di es of Vasily Shuisky but with a different obverse . Hence it is poss ible to obtain a coin with the name of Shuisky on the reverse and the date of 1605 on obverse even though Shuisky was not procl a imed TSAR until 1606 . These Swedish occupat i on Kopecks were conside r ab l y lighter in weight than those used during Shuisky ' s reign, 1606 -1610.

L .13oe prl - 1605

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L. 13A L. 138 L. 13C L.1 3D L.1 3E

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L. 13 ~ TSAR VASILEI

1606-1610 KOPECK

REV.

IVANOVICH SHUISKY

TSAR AND ----I GRAND PRINCE

\TT~ f 1115' ~ VASILEY IVAN ,.1-[:,}'1 111 If\. OVICH OF ALL

OB1\L{l:, RUSSIA

r-S1EVERAL REVERSES --,

(Actual Size)

% PJlI - 1 606 -~ PEl - 1607 -% PU - 1608 -

1609 Not Known % PUt - 1610 -

A curi ous shape like t his ~ appears on many of the Kopecks . Also on all the coins dated 1610 above THE date appear 3 vertical bars or 1 horizontal and 3 vertical bars l ike t his (Unexplainabl e )

Drawing illustrates crude die cutting method · which reflects in the coining of the Kopecks----lines broken and design uncertain.

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L . 14~TSAR VLADISLAV SIGISMUNDOVICH VASA

1610-1612 KOPECK

(Dengas poss ibly do not exist. )

REV.

TSAR AND GRAND PRI NCE

+-_-1 VLADISLAV ZHIGIMOND OVICH OF ALL RUSSIA

NaTE : All Wire Kopecks ani t l ast name of rul er - only PATRIARCHAL names spelled out .

£ . 15 ~ TSAR MIKHAIL FEODOROVICH (F.irst Tsar of the House of Romanov)

1613-1645 KOPECK

REV.

TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE MIKHYAILO THEDOROVICH OF ALL RUSSIA

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L.1 6 <S> TSAR ALEXIE MIKHAILOVICH 1645-1676 AR KOPECK

(The majority of these fJfl. Kopecks seem to be weakly struck - average condi­tion FINE)

7x12mm Elongated Typical

REV.

TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE YALEKSEI MIKHYAILOVICH OF ALL RUSSIA

L.16A k in VERY FINE conditi on.

NOTE: Tsars Ivan to Alexie reduced the weight of the Kopeck due to internal changes . During Alexie I s reign the value of rroney went down . Inflation l ed him t o the ultimate solution - he stopped minting s ilver Kopecks ; in its place copper was used , called "Copper I nflation Kopecks of Alexie". Silver was apparently hoarded, which accounts f or the extreme scarcity of the AR Kopecks .

L. 1? ~ COPPER KOPECK Same legend as L.16, 7x12mm Elongated, Av­erage condition VERY FINE, a bit clearer than the fJfl. type.

The copper Kopeck would cornmancl a higher Numis­rratic value as an off-metal short-lived emergency • l.ssue.

All of the Kopecks of PETER are irreg­ular, not one will have a full legend or full obverse. Many effaced. Sharp striking. Average condition is VERY FINE. Below are several reverses:

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PETER I (The Great) TSAR OF ALL RUSSIA 1689- 1725 (Non-Ruling Tsar 1682- 89)

AR KOPECK

Dating of Kopeck took place 1696 to 1717.

DATED KOPECKS

L . 18N/D

L . 18 ~

L . 18A L . 18B L . 18C L .18D L .1 8E L . 18F

L . 18G L.1 8H L . 18J L .1 8K L .1 8M L . 18N L.1 80 L .1 8P

L .1 8Q L . 18R L . 185 L .18T L .18V L .1 8W L .1 8X L . 18Y L .1 82

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When date not shown. Effaced or off- centered . Mo Mint (Just before dating took place.) 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700 CYRILLI C (Old ) 1700 (New) Dating

System 1701 1702 Common Date 1703 Common Date 1704 Common Date 1705 1706 Common Date 1707 Common Date 1708 I'm not

1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 171 5 1716

positive this • date eXlsts .

1717 Possibly a withdrawn • l ssue.

Other researchers list an AE Knn~ck nnTed 1701 -

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BI BLi OGRAPHY

D. M. LANG, Ph .D. : A Hoard of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Russian Silver Coins ( i n Numismatic Chron­i cle , Sixth Series , Vol . XI V, 1954, pp .141-162)

V • 1. PEI'ROV: Cata logue Des Monnaies Russes

RUSS IAN DATE CH ART

\700 17.0 \ 170 2- 1703

4~ '-''J'4 ALJ't{ AlIJr 1104- noS" nOb nOI

AlJJa AljJE A4'S JlfJJ~ nOB 170 9 nla ""

AqJl.1 Atp& AljJl~ I -

17IZ nl3 1114- nlS"

AlPS I Al}Jrl A.lpl)1 AlJISI

nib .,17 -

ALpS I Atp3'

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