Money before Peter's Russia: coins of flakes

The coins of the scales got their name because of the shape. Their appearance resembles scales of fish. The coins that have survived to this day are made mostly of silver, much less of them are made of copper. There is an assumption that there were gold scales.

The exact date for the appearance of these banknotes in everyday life was not established for archaeologists and historians, but they appeared before the Tatar-Mongol yoke. But the final of their use is known - this is the monetary reform of Peter I in 1718. Consequently, the history of scales is more than a thousand years old. Initially, they did not have a specific denomination. The cost of a coin of flakes was determined by weight. Silver signs, of course, were more expensive than copper ones. And in general silver was more valuable at that time than it is now. In those days for 1 gram of gold they gave about 10 grams of silver.

Manufacture of coins of flakes

Since weight was important in coins, little attention was paid to the content and form. We took a piece of wire, cut into pieces, which were flattened with a stamp. The shape of the products was elongated, very similar to fish scales. The image from the stamp did not fit completely. Printing was made manually, the money got uneven, and the content of the picture could be judged only having a few denezhek from one manufacturer. This production technology causes the absence of two identical products. If the wire was made of silver, then a silver flake was obtained. Each prince had his own mint, so the variety of products is enormous. As a rule, the name of the ruler was on the obverse, and on the reverse was applied some kind of image: a mythical beast or a rider with a spear. Despite the fact that Rus has already been baptized, many pagan symbols can be considered on coins.

The monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya

It is believed that full-fledged coins of scales should have a weight of 1 gram. But for all the time of existence of these denezhek their weight has constantly decreased. Late coins weigh only half a gram. Note that at the beginning of the 16th century there were many different types of banknotes in Russia. And they were cut off all the time and replaced. Trading transactions were difficult. There is a need for reform, caused by the creation of a single monetary system of the state. She had to spend Elena Glinskaya - the widow of Basil III. The old money was banned, new ones could only be printed on the mint of the sovereign. A new name was introduced - a penny, but on the whole the coins retained the old manufacturing technology and appearance. And the people still called them scales. Only now in connection with the name of the Russian sovereign, for example, the coins-scales of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Periodization of coin flakes

The ancient coins of the scales during their existence have undergone many changes that are associated with specific events and technologies for their manufacture. Thus, we can define a certain periodization. The first period - from the 9th to the beginning of the 12th century - is characterized by the absence of gold, silver and copper mining in Russia. Foreign coins were widely used, and own ones were made from ingots of precious metals, which were regarded primarily as commodities. At this time the monetary-weight system of Rus was being formed.

From the XII to the XIV century, during the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the production of own coins was discontinued.

In the third period - from the fourteenth to the beginning of the sixteenth century - the chasing of Russian banknotes was restored, but each specific prince acquired his own mint.

The fourth stage is directly connected with the reform of Elena Glinskaya: at this moment centralization of the monetary system in Moscow takes place.

The fifth period is caused by monetary changes at the court of Peter I. There is a replacement of scales with money printed on machines. They become larger by weight and at face value. The decimal system of measurement is entered.

Numismatists

Since scales are found everywhere, their cost depends on how many specific coins are on the market, and also on the metal from which they are made. The price at auctions has a fairly wide range: from 140 rubles to 7 thousand. The most valuable are considered to be coins of specific princes, for such bank notes do not come across very often. And if they do, then their condition is very deplorable. A quarter of the money and half of the money are very highly appreciated, since these coins are also extremely rare. Their percentage in the extracted treasures is very small.