In which state did 1 coin appear? The world's oldest silver coin

This cash, issued and in circulation in the form of coins.

History of metal money

The very first coins appeared in the 2nd millennium BC in China. They were made by casting bronze.

The first gold coin familiar to modern man(that is, round) shape appeared in Lydia (today the territory of Turkey) in the 7th century BC. Then the coins quickly spread to the territory of other states - Greece, Macedonia, and Western European countries.

Around the same time, coinage began to be minted in the Mediterranean countries. This process strictly controlled by the state. Gold, silver and copper were used to produce metal money in those days.

Gold metal money from the 3rd century BC. began to be minted in Rome. It should be noted that it was the Romans who began to call the metal money that was produced in the Temple of Juno the Coin, coins.

In Russia, metal money made of gold appeared during the time of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. The first Russian gold coin is the Vladimir zlatnik, weighing approximately 4 g.

Throughout VIII-XIV century. - silver was mainly used for the production of metallic money. In the XV -XVIII centuries. There were coins in circulation, minted from both silver and gold.

XIX - mid. XX century historians characterize it as the time of the gold standard (“solar” metal became the universal equivalent, and silver coins turned into small change). Gold coins were most popular in the 19th century, especially in Great Britain. This state, thanks to the presence large quantity colonies and dominions, ranked first in the world in gold production. The properties of the “solar” metal served as the basis for the transition to the active use of gold metal money. Gold coins are distinguished by uniformity in quality, high concentration of value, excellent preservation, and difficulty in mining and processing.

It was gold coins that were the main competitors to the American dollar. Therefore, the United States tried to abolish . The decision to exclude gold metal money from circulation was made at the Jamaica Conference in the 70s of the last century.

Classification of metal money

Metal money is divided into two main types:

full-fledged (made mainly of noble metals);

inferior (mainly aluminum and its alloys are used for the production of coins).

Defective metal money is used as a bargaining chip.

Experts point out that the state issues metal coins with a so-called forced exchange rate, that is, it specifically assigns them an inflated face value. For example, in Russia, the production of a coin with a face value of 2 rubles costs the state only 79 kopecks.

Characteristics of metal money

Metal money has the following characteristics:

obverse - the front side of a coin, where it is usually minted;

reverse - reverse side metal money (place of minting of religious or state symbols);

edge - edge of a coin.

The minting of metal money is strictly centralized and is carried out exclusively by state mints.

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The photo below shows the world's first Aegina silver coin, on the front side of which there is an image land turtle- symbol of the city of Aegina.

For many centuries, the means of payment were the items of trade themselves, which initially served as money. In the Bronze Age, the monetary equivalent was metal. With the development of production and trade, payment bullions made of precious metals (gold, silver) and copper become means of payment.

Payment bars made of precious metals and copper had a relatively small mass and low cost; they were different in shape and weight. The new means of payment was more convenient for trade than items intended for exchange in kind. These payment bars were weighted money. However, the weight ingots had to be weighed each time and their composition determined, which caused great inconvenience.

Only a coin-based means of payment, monopolized by the state, could guarantee the quality of the means of payment, the correct weight and chemical composition. The first coin means of payment was a small piece of metal, where the state was responsible for the content of precious metals, which guaranteed the quality of the coins produced with its stamp.

Coins, unlike payment bars, performed not only an economic function, but were also carriers of information. The appearance of the first coins in circulation as a means of payment assigned the state an even greater role in the economy.

It is known that the world's first coins appeared in the seventh century BC, in the ancient Lydian kingdom. These coins were made from a natural alloy - electrum. Externally, the alloy looked like amber, which was also called “electron”. The alloy - electron, mainly consisted of silver and gold, which included impurities of other metals. Depending on the silver content in the electrum, the alloy had different color shades.

However, there are other versions related to the purpose of the world's first coin. It is believed that the first coins produced by Lydian craftsmen were initially not a means of payment at all, but had a different purpose. There is evidence that they were first used as ritual objects, to be offered to the gods in temples. Another version, the first coin in the world, was made - not by Lydian craftsmen, but in China, in the middle of the second millennium BC. However, the very first coin in China was made not of gold and silver, but of copper.

Initially, the Lydian craftsmen of the ancient state of Asia Minor did not know how to refine gold, so the first coins were made from a natural alloy of gold and silver. Such coins did not have the exact weight content of precious metals in the alloy, that is, they did not have an accurate hallmark. The design on these coins only indicated that they belonged to coins. The first coins did not have a specific size, weight, and did not meet the modern definition of a coin. It was only when coins acquired a standard of weight, purity, and size that they began to fall within the modern definition of a coin. Such coins had an image in the form of the royal seal: on the obverse - the head of a lion, and on the reverse - a bull. The designated royal seal guaranteed the quality of coins produced in the state.

After the Lydian craftsmen mastered the technology of refining gold, silver and gold coins began to be minted as a means of payment. It is believed that the first silver coins were discovered and minted not in Lydia, but in Greece. Many busy trade routes passed through the Lydian kingdom, leading to Greece and the countries of the East. The Lydian kingdom conducted active trade with Greece.

The first silver coins began to be minted in the Greek city of Aegina. The coinage system in Aegina was based on silver. According to the Aegina coin system, mainly silver starters were minted. These silver coins were Aegina drachmas. On the front side of the silver coins there was an image of a land turtle - as a symbol of the city of Aegina.

Silver coins minted in Aegina quickly spread throughout Greece and its colonies, and then they entered Iran. Then, silver coins became popular among the Romans and many barbarian tribes.

The first silver coin was small in size irregular shape and looked like a silver cake. These silver coins were very different from the modern coins that exist today. The silver coin bore the symbol of the city, which guaranteed its weight. On the reverse side of the silver coins, there were spikes left from minting, on which the coin was held during minting. Such a silver coin is funny, about six grams.

The ancient Greeks had their own coin account. The small silver coin was called an “obol”, where six obloms made up a drachma, and two drachmas made up a stator. Silver coins in different cities and in different time had different weight. The earliest silver coins in Greece were not inscribed at first. The image on silver coins was made only on the front side. Inscriptions on silver coins began to appear only in the middle of the sixth century BC, and various images on the obverse and reverse sides - in the fifth century BC. In Athens, silver coins were minted with the image of the head of the goddess Athena on the front side, and an owl on its reverse side.

In those days, Lydia lay at the crossroads of many roads. All trade routes to the countries of the East and Ancient Greece passed through its territory. This is where the urgent need to simplify trade transactions arose. And this was seriously hindered by heavy ingots, which acted as the money supply. The inventive Lydians were the first to think of making metal coins from electrum, which is a natural alloy of gold and silver. Small fragments of this metal, shaped like beans, began to be flattened, applying the city sign to their surface. These symbolic pieces of metal began to be used as bargaining chips. The first Lydian coins received their name in honor of the Lydian king Croesus, who, according to legends, possessed untold wealth. This is how the world saw krozeids - the first metal money with an image.

Money turnover

A few decades later, the rulers of the Greek city of Aegina began minting their own coins. Outwardly, they were not at all similar to the Lydian creuseids and were cast from pure silver. Therefore, historians argue that metal coins in Aegina were invented independently, but a little later. Coins from Aegina and Lydia very quickly began to move throughout the territory of Greece, moved to Iran, and then appeared among the Romans, eventually conquering many barbarian tribes.

Gradually, coins from many cities entered the market, differing from each other in weight, type and value. The minted coin of one city could cost several times more expensive than coins different, because it could have been cast from pure gold, and not from an alloy. At the same time, coins with images or emblems were valued much higher, because were distinguished by the purity of the metal and fullness. The mark of the mint that minted money enjoyed unshakable authority among all residents.

Greek coins

In the territory Ancient Greece There were several city-states: Corinth, Athens, Sparta, Syracuse, and each of them had its own mint, minting its own coins. They were different shapes, various stamps were applied to them, but most often these were images of sacred animals or gods who were revered in the city where the coin was minted.

For example, in Syracuse, the god of poetry Apollo was depicted on the coins, and the winged Pegasus soared on the coins of Corinth.

When it comes to talking about the first money, professional historians and archaeologists, as a rule, talk about animal skins, bird feathers and various kinds of shells found in excavations. In the eastern part Pacific Ocean on the islands of Micronesia, for example, Rai - round stones with a carved center - were used as a prototype for modern coins. They were made from limestone. The dimensions of these “coins” could reach several meters, and their weight could reach several tons! From the point of view of scientists, these were the first money. Cows, bulls, sheep were also used as money (the word “capital” comes from the Old German “wealth”, it consisted in the number of livestock) and so on...

Nothing can be done - this is the scientific way of thinking! But for ordinary person, of course, all of the above rather refers to the predecessors of modern currency, its original prototypes, and cannot in any way be called money in the full sense of the word. After all, these are not even coins!

Metal as a board

But the moment came when the monetary function passed to metals - but not yet to coins. Metal rings, household utensils, arrow and spear tips, and even ingots of various weights and shapes could be used as payment. For example, the Italians accepted copper ingots by weight before they had the first coins (we talked about 300 kg of ingots found in Italy in the sacred spring of Apollo in the article about natural exchange). Then it occurred to someone to mix copper and tin with silver and gold. The result was gold and silver bars containing a certain percentage of the precious metal. To avoid confusion, the ingots were checked for weight, and a sample was taken from the metal. For the first time, a mark appeared on the bars, with the help of which the state solved the problem of counterfeiting money. Perhaps, it was from the beginning of the practice of branding that we can talk about the origin of the first coins, that is, the appearance of money.

First coins

According to some sources, bronze coins first appeared in the highly developed ancient Chinese culture in the second millennium BC. e. But, as you know, Ancient China developed in a very isolated manner, so in the countries of the Mediterranean basin they first started talking about minted coins only in the 7th century BC. e.

The metal was exposed high temperatures, after which small disks were formed from it and sent to the anvil. In the writings of Herodotus there is a mention of the minting of the first coins in the state of Lydia. Similar information is found in other ancient Greek thinkers. It is now generally accepted that it was in Lydia in the 7th century BC. e. They began to make coins from an alloy of silver and gold. Coins came to Greece, Iran and Italy from there, quickly gaining a place in economy. The practice of minting coins was later adopted by barbarian tribes from the Romans.

They began to call the coin a coin later. Moneta is one of the nicknames of the goddess Juno. Juno Moneta translates as Juno "warning" or "adviser". In antiquity, a mint was located next to her temple on the Capitoline Hill.

The first coins in Rus'

The first coins were brought to our country in the 8th century. In the Arab Caliphate, dirhams were minted - coins that were brought to Kievan Rus by merchants who went “over the hill” to buy goods. The original name did not catch on, but soon its own name appeared - “kuna”. Half a kuna was called rezana, 25 kuna was a hryvnia. By the way, the word “hryvnia” comes from the word “mane” (neck) and meant a necklace made of precious metal. The Russians began minting their own coins at the end of the 10th century. In Rus', these were coins made of gold and silver with the image of the Great Prince and the sign of the Rurikovichs. They were called goldsmiths and silversmiths, respectively. But the Tatar-Mongol yoke came - and in Rus' they switched to bars of silver. And only in the 14th century the minting of Russian coins resumed. The first Russian ruble came from the word “cut,” and it looked like a stump: 200 grams of silver in the form of an elongated block, roughly chopped off at the ends. The cost of that ruble was one hryvnia kun.

This careless block was cut into two parts and received half rubles, divided by four - quarters were formed. Small coins were also made from the ruble, the name of which served as the prototype of the modern word “money”. The ruble block was pulled into a thin wire, which was then cut into pieces. The resulting stumps were flattened and coins - money - were minted from them. This was the name of the medieval Turkic silver coins täŋkä.

Copper revolt or an attempt to escape from commodity money

Of course, the coins are like the first ones money significantly changed the way of life human life, formed new type economy and people's behavior. And everything would be fine, but counterfeiters appeared - and if not on the same day, then the next day after the first coin appeared. The profession, frankly speaking, is the oldest. In Rus', mention of counterfeiters can be found already in one of the Novgorod chronicles of 1447. The state took punitive measures, but there were no fewer violators. In 1655, Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich decided to issue coins from copper. He replaced precious metals with base metals - and this is how the nominal value of money arose. But this led to chaos in the coin industry system and, as a consequence, to the copper riot. The bloody scenes at the end of the riot were described by diplomat and writer Grigory Kotoshikhin:

“They hanged 150 people, and the decree was enough for everyone, they tortured and burned... and inflicting punishment on them, they sent everyone to distant cities to live forever... and another thief of the same days, in the night, carried out a decree, with his hands tied back in large courts, they were sunk in the Moscow River.”

Peter's reform and real money

As a result of the rebellion, of course, the copper coin was gradually abolished and silver coins began to be minted again. And to the level of developed European countries The Russian coin was introduced by Peter I, who carried out the reform in 1698. Copper coins re-established themselves in monetary circulation. And this is very remarkable! After all, now it was possible to talk about the real first coin, not about commodity money tied to the direct value of its material.

People have tried many types of “money”. In Rus' these were the furs of fur-bearing animals, in Melanesia - pig tails, in Sparta - stone blocks. A dirty piece of leather of an indeterminate color with worn-out inscriptions is also money; in the past they actually circulated in Alaska.

In Brazil, scarlet flamingo feathers served as currency. And on the island of Santa Cruz, not far from Australia, money was replaced by a belt woven from the feathers of a small honeybird.

Elsewhere, money included cowrie seashells, cocoa beans, pieces of amber, salt, metal ingots, and even the people themselves—slaves. By the way, cowrie shells were in circulation in Armenia until the 18th century.

In Ancient Greece, the universal means of payment - money - was large and small livestock: bulls, horses, rams. The Latin word Recunia (money) originates from the word Recus (cattle). IN ancient Rus' The prince's treasury was called the cowwoman, and the treasurer was called the cattleman.

Archaic types of money gave way to more convenient and practical ones, and the princely cowshed no longer stored pigs and cows, but furs, salt and silver bars for exchange.

Certain requirements for money have formed. Ideal money should be a fairly compact product, embodying high value in small volume and weight, easily divided into smaller parts, more durable than stone, not dissolving in the rain like salt, not deteriorating and not burning in fire like furs. It turned out that stable, rare and expensive metals are most convenient for transportation, exchange and storage.

The process of replacing some money with others occurred spontaneously, regardless of the will of the people. True, during periods of wars, revolutions and other turmoil there was an equally natural spontaneous return to lower forms of money (most often as close as possible to direct consumption). Thus, during the war in Belarus, the Germans promised a kilogram of salt for the head of a partisan, considering gold and paper money to be less effective.

Iron, copper, lead and even tin were used as monetary metals. For example, in Ancient Greece iron rods served as money. But these metals as money were in many ways inferior to precious (noble) metals - gold and silver. The latter, among other things, are aesthetically attractive. Gold and silver inexorably drove other forms of money out of the market. For a number of requirements, these metals met the ideal. They are homogeneous, durable, divisible, compact and valuable in themselves.

It is inconvenient to pay with non-metallic money - units of such money inevitably differed from one another in size and quality.

With the beginning of the use of gold and silver, monetary calculations switched to weight calculations. Gold sand was especially convenient for weighing. Until the 20th century, Klondike gold miners paid in ounces and pennyweights of gold dust.

Archaeologists believe that gold is the first metal that man found. And this happened more than 4 thousand years ago BC.
Gold was attractive. Even despite the limited scope of its application, people were drawn to it. They wanted to wear jewelry from it, to own it. The similarity of its color with the sun is a coincidence to which people attached deep meaning.
Unlike copper, which turns green, iron, which rusts, and silver, which tarnishes, pure gold is extremely chemically inert. Gold and silver were associated with magic and divinity. People almost everywhere considered gold and silver to be sacred materials. Durability, the ability to maintain their composition and attractiveness without corroding made these metals almost ideal for making coins.
Due to its longevity, the metal retains its value for a long time. Since it can be made into small and large pieces, it serves an excellent remedy exchange. Even in the pre-monet period, gold was used primarily for trade purposes, being a means of circulation. Gold served as money as early as 1500 BC. in China, India, Egypt, Mesopotamia and other countries. As soon as technology and social organization reached the point where standardized amounts of gold and silver were used for exchange, it was only a matter of time before small coins appeared.
There are different versions in numismatics regarding the origin of the coin. The Greeks attributed the invention of the coin to the heroes of their myths, the Romans to the gods Janus or Saturn. According to their views, ancient coins with your head two-faced god and with the bow of the ship he knocked out Janus in honor of the god of time Saturn, who arrived in Italy from Crete by ship.
Herodotus and some other ancient authors wrote that the first coins were minted in the Asia Minor state of Lydia. The technological and cultural shift away from primitive objects of exchange marked the first monetary revolution, and this, according to numismatic research, happened only once.
In our time, it has been precisely established that, indeed, the coin was created by Lydia, who began issuing it (production) at the end of the 7th century BC. It originated in Western Asia, where Turkey is now, and from there spread throughout the world, becoming the global monetary system in which we live and work today.
The word “coin” itself translated from Latin means warning or advisor. This title was given to the Roman goddess Juno (Hera), the patroness of trade and the spouse of Jupiter (Zeus), since it was believed that she repeatedly warned the Romans about earthquakes and enemy attacks. In the workshops (a kind of “mints”) on Capitol Hill near the Temple of Juno Coins, the first minted metal money appeared. In Rome, this money was given the name “coin” after the place where it was made. Then this word found its way into most European languages.

The first Lydian coins were made from an alloy of silver and gold called electra. This is how a monetary revolution took place in Lydia. Gold and silver finally became money. Several decades passed, and coins appeared in the Greek city of Aegina. They were minted from silver and differed in shape from the Lydian ones. It is believed that the coin was invented in Aegina, although later, but completely independently of Lydia. From Lydia and Aegina, coins quickly spread throughout Greece, through the colonies, and further into Iran. Then they appeared among the Romans and many barbarian tribes. Independent coins were invented in India and China. So the pieces of metal dressed in “national uniforms”. After Rome, coinage became most widespread in Ancient Greece. Official sources confirm that they took it on consciously, using the state stamp, with a guarantee of the good quality of the coin metal. And the stamp, which is a formal notification of value, turns into an independent sign. Soon round form coins, as the most convenient for circulation, supplanted all others.
Each coin had a specific image and inscription - a legend. With the advent of the first coins, numismatics also appeared. After all, it is clear that until coins appeared, the basic material of numismatics was absent. Every numismatist knows that the front side of a coin is called the obverse, the back side is called the reverse, and the edge or edge is called the edge.
The appearance of minted metal coins is an important milestone in the history of any state. This is evidence that this society has achieved high degree economic and social development. Money set new way thoughts and actions that changed the world. Only now, almost three thousand years later, is the power of money becoming undeniable in human affairs. Although why “the power of money”? Probably, the postulate of the English economist Francis Bacon, almost 500 years ago, is more appropriate here: “Money is a very bad master, but a very good servant.” Although, why the English postulate?, after all, the Russian proverb is appropriate here: “Gold is like water - it will make a way everywhere.”
The first coins were primitive both in the technique of execution and in the design of the design. The art of coinage improved with each century, engraving also improved, the image became more realistic, and due to the increase in the coin field, the compositional capabilities of carvers expanded. And it is no coincidence that many of the commemorative and memorial coins are classified as works of art of small forms or, as they also say, works special type small plastic surgery.

The expansion of world trade increased the demand for gold as a monetary metal. The growth of world gold production and especially its influx into Europe from America, Australia and Africa accelerated the displacement of depreciated silver and created the conditions for the transition of most countries at the end of the nineteenth century to gold monometallism. The formation of the world market expanded the circulation of gold and made it world money.
As already mentioned, gold and silver are the oldest coin metals. But even before the advent of coins, gold and silver objects and bars were widely used as a means of payment. Thus, it is known that in the monetary circulation of Russia for almost two centuries - from the 12th to the 14th, during the so-called “coinless period”, gold and silver bars were used. Silver was melted down into hryvnia bars. “Hryvnia” was a common means of payment. Yes, and the very word “silver” in the Slavic vocabulary was for a long time synonymous with money. In Russia, in the XIV - XVII centuries silver was the main coin metal: silver denga and kopeck dominated in monetary circulation. People in Rus' began to get used to the word “coin” only from the time of Peter I.
He wrote about the fact that there is a lot of gold on the territory of Russia back in the 5th century BC. ancient Greek historian Herodotus, based on the testimony of travelers. Herodotus's prediction was completely confirmed, but only after twenty-three centuries.
The search for precious metal on Russian soil has been going on for a very long time. I started them again Kyiv prince Vladimir in the 10th century. Kievan Rus never had its own gold. Muscovite Rus' also did not immediately have the opportunity to mine it. And although Ivan III was sure that there must be Russian gold in the land, he had to mint gold coins (the so-called UGRIAN CHERVONTS), which he awarded as medals to his associates, from someone else’s, imported gold. Ivan the Terrible established the Order of Stone Affairs, which supervised the search for gold and silver ores.
By the end of the 15th century, Russian people began to develop the Perm land and slopes Ural mountains. But all searches for gold here were fruitless. They were especially active in the area of ​​the Pechora River. Copper and silver ores were found, but no gold. The search continued throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

A. “zlatnik” of Prince Vladimir
B. Shuisky's golden penny
V. Dukat Ivana 3

Despite all the efforts of the Russian tsars, there was no gold of their own until almost the second half of the 18th century. There was not enough silver and even copper. Peter I issued a number of decrees ordering the search for gold, threatening punishment for those who hide their finds, and promising rewards for those who make them. And during the reign of Peter I, Russia began to produce its own gold. True, very little and only incidentally - during the processing of silver ores.
The real Russian gold mining began in 1745, when in the Urals the Shartash peasant Erofei Markov found ore gold not far from his village. Here the first gold mine in Russia began operating in 1747. From this time on, the Russian gold mining industry began. In total, from 1752 to 1917, over 2,800 tons of gold were mined in Russia, which is more than 12% of all world production during that period.
The first gold Russian coins (zlatniki) appeared in Kievan Rus under Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century. It must be said that the name ZLATNIK was given to the first Russian gold coins by later researchers; contemporaries called them KUNI and ZLATOM. Later, as already mentioned, under Ivan III, gold ones were minted, or as they were also called Ugric ones, since they were made according to the type of Hungarian ducats. Similar coins were also known during the short reign of False Dmitry I. Then, during the period of V. Shuisky, gold “NOVGORODKI” and “MOSKOVKI” (kopecks and denga) were issued into circulation. Gold coins (Chervonets, Half-Chervonets and Quarter-Chervonets) were also minted under the following rulers: Mikhail Fedorovich, Alexei Mikhailovich, Fyodor Alekseevich, his sister Sophia and brothers Ivan and Peter Alekseevich CHERVONETS - the name given in Russia to foreign gold coins, mainly Dutch ducats. It comes from the color of high-grade gold, which was then called red gold. Before Peter I, gold coins were issued in Russia, but they served as awards, not coins.

The history of the origin of many Russian coins is inseparable from the history of the Russian state itself. Thus, a MEMORIAL (commemorative) gold coin with a face value of 5 rubles with the inscription on the reverse “FROM ROZS. KOLYV.” minted on the occasion of the beginning of the use of gold mined at the Kolyvan-Voskresensky mines in coin production.
DONATIVE (gift) gold coins rightly belong to the category of the most rare Russian coins. These coins were produced in "special orders" in 1876, 1896, 1902 and 1908 in limited quantities and were not intended for regular circulation. Coins with a face value of 25 rubles with the date “1876” and the inscription: “Pure gold 7 spools 3 shares” were minted in a limited edition (no more than 100) by order of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (uncle Nicholas II). According to V.V. Uzdenikov, with whom many numismatists agree, the minting of these coins is connected with their souvenir purpose.

On the initiative and with the active participation of Witte, serious economic transformations were carried out in Russia, large-scale projects were implemented that helped strengthen public finances and accelerated industrial development. These included the introduction of a state-owned wine monopoly in 1894, the construction of the Siberian Railway, the conclusion of customs agreements with Germany, the development of a network of technical and vocational schools. But Witte will remain in the memory of his descendants primarily as the organizer and inspirer of the reform, which came to be called “Witte’s monetary reform.” And it is no coincidence that in 1997, the Central Bank of Russia issued a silver coin worth 3 rubles with a portrait of S. Yu. Witte in honor of the 100th anniversary of monetary reform in Russia. Having become Minister of Finance in August 1892, Witte did not immediately accept the idea of ​​​​introducing gold parity, although his predecessor as Minister of Finance I. A. Visegradsky took it seriously. After the successful transition of Austria-Hungary to gold circulation, Vyshegradsky even invited one of the initiators of this transition, A. Yu. Rothstein, to Russia, who then became Witte’s confidant.
Witte had to decide for himself and convince Nicholas II in which direction to carry out the reform: on the basis of monometallism (gold) or bimetallism (silver and gold). The second option was supported both by the tradition of Russian monetary circulation and by the huge reserves of silver accumulated in the country. However, tying the credit ruble to the bimetallic equivalent was fraught with a great danger: with a high market situation of one of the parities, a steady decline in the value of the other could not only not lead to, but even increase its instability. Sober calculation and vision of Russia's historical possibilities made S. Yu. Witte a staunch supporter of monometallism.
The Minister of Finance developed the principles of reform and detailed plan its implementation and received the full support of the king. The introduction of gold circulation occurred in stages. In February 1895, Witte submitted to the Finance Committee a project to authorize transactions for gold coin, which could serve as the basis for financial transactions along with silver and notes of credit. A decisive step towards gold circulation was the law approved by the State Council and approved by Nicholas II on May 8, 1895.

In 1896, it became necessary to begin producing a new type of gold coin. By that time, it had not been carried out for several years due to the planned financial reorganization. The Ministry of Finance believed that issuing coins of five and ten ruble denominations was ineffective: the discrepancy between the designated denomination and the real value was one of the most important obstacles in the spread of circulation. It was decided to mint a new coin with the inscription “15 rubles” on the imperial and “7 rubles 50 kopecks” on the semi-imperial. By the way, as already mentioned, the first gold imperials in denominations of 10 rubles and semi-imperials (5 rubles) appeared in Russia back in 1755. The value of the credit ruble was determined at 1/15 of the imperial, and the law obliged the exchange of paper money for gold without restrictions.
The transformation of the monetary system based on gold monometallism required changing the coin regulations, the new edition of which was approved by Nicholas II on July 7, 1899. Its main provisions boiled down to the following: state monetary unit Russia is a ruble containing 17,424 shares of pure gold.

The system of gold monometallism with the circulation of credit notes existed in Russia until 1914. From the very first days after Russia joined I world war The government began to use the issue of banknotes to cover the state budget deficit, and the law of July 27, 1914 eliminated the exchange of banknotes for gold. With the development of the inflationary process, the process of the disappearance of specie from circulation began. With the cessation of the exchange of credit notes for gold, the population began to hoard gold and then silver coins. Gold, silver, and subsequently copper coins completely disappeared from circulation and ended up in the hands of the population and in the form of treasures.

After a long break, the coin returned to monetary circulation already in Soviet time. At the final stage of the monetary reform of 1922-1924. Previously prepared silver coins in denominations of 10, 15, 20, 50 kopecks were put into circulation. and 1 rub. and copper coins of 1, 2, 3 and 5 kopecks. Thus, the first coin program of the USSR Government was implemented. However, at the end of the 20s, it was finally recognized that minting coins from gold, silver and copper “eats” a huge amount of expensive and scarce metals. This was understood even in pre-revolutionary Russia. In 1910-1911 Ministry of Finance together with mint developed a program to replace expensive silver in small change coins with nickel alloys, which since the mid-19th century. successfully used in coinage by some European countries. In the future, it was planned to mint bronze coins. In 1911, test nickel coins were produced, but the coin reform was not completed: the war and then the revolution interfered. It was implemented already during the Soviet period.

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