The first Russian coins and their history. The cost of Russian coins. The most expensive coins of ancient Rus'

Coins of medieval Rus'

Russian lands in the Middle Ages did not know not only their own gold and silver, but even their own copper. Not a single deposit was explored until the 17th century, and serious industrial development began only in the 18th century. Until that time, all Russian coins, Jewelry, utensils were created by our craftsmen from imported metals. These metals came primarily from a colossal influx of foreign money - in the form of trade duties and payments for wax, timber, hemp, and furs.

In the 9th-11th centuries, international trade routes of paramount importance passed through the territory of Ancient Rus'. Russian cities grew rich thanks to their own merchant enterprises, as well as taxes levied on the Scandinavians, Arabs, Byzantines, and guests from Western Europe. In the vastness of Rus', there are countless treasures and burials containing foreign coins. Arabian thin dirhams, Byzantine gold solids, silver milliarisiums, copper follices, coarse Western European denarii… Other people's money was widely used in any transactions, it was in the order of things.
But in the era of the heyday of the Old Russian state, this seemed not enough to the Kyiv rulers. Prince Vladimir the Holy, who baptized Rus' at the end of the 10th century, decided to start his own coin. She should have Firstly, to confirm the dominance of the ruling dynasty and, secondly, to acquaint the subjects with the symbols of a new religion for them. At the same time, as a real means of payment, coins of local issue had to resemble in appearance the long-familiar money of neighbors that had come into circulation.

ZLATNIKI AND SREBRENIKI

The first Russian coins made of gold and silver - gold coins and silver coins - were issued for a short time, only a few decades at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries. Less than three and a half hundred of them have survived, with the absolute majority being pieces of silver. They were made under the princes Vladimir the Holy, Svyatopolk the Accursed, Yaroslav the Wise. Zlatniks were actually copied from the Byzantine solidi - a coin that was widespread in circulation at that time. The situation is much more complicated with pieces of silver. Their large thin disk resembles Arabic dirhams. But the images on them (with local corrections, of course) date back to the Greek cultural tradition that gave Rus' Christianity. St. Vladimir minted his portrait on pieces of silver - with a long mustache, with a scepter, a ruler's crown and a halo. On the other side is the Lord, who makes a blessing gesture with his right hand, and holds the Holy Scripture in his left.

Vladimir's Srebreniki were obviously made by Kyiv masters, and this work was new to them. The technique of making coins remained imperfect, and the design remained primitive. So, small legs were added to the half-length image of Prince Vladimir, and it turned into a full-length one. Probably, otherwise the subjects could be indignant: why was their sovereign "chopped off" half of the body? For the Byzantines, the half-length portrait of the emperor on coins was quite familiar, but in Rus' it caused misunderstanding ... Subsequently, the image of God was replaced with a generic sign of the ruling dynasty - a trident, the appearance of which changed among Vladimir's successors.

Slate spindles. XI-XIII centuries
Slate whorls are found at the excavations of medieval Russian cities almost as often as ceramics. They were put on the tip of the spindle, preventing the thread from slipping off it. However, like many other items (axes, shovels, ornaments), the whorl began to function as money when coins fell out of use for one reason or another. On the whorls one can sometimes see the scratched names of the owners or notches, possibly meaning "value".

The best examples of pieces of silver were made in Novgorod the Great, when Yaroslav Vladimirovich reigned there, later nicknamed the Wise. On the side of the piece of silver there is an image of St. George, the Christian patron of Prince Yaroslav, and on the other side there is a trident and a circular inscription: "Yaroslavl silver." Novgorod srebreniki differ from most Kyiv you in the quality of the image and the proportionality of the composition. These coins are more like jewelry - medallions, pendants were the pinnacle of ancient Russian monetary art, unsurpassed: for 700 years, until the Petrine era. Modern historians write about them with admiration: “It would not be an exaggeration to recognize these as a masterpiece of monetary art for all of Europe and Byzantium at the beginning of the 11th century. The stamp maker was an outstanding master ..,”.

Arabic dirhams

These larges silver coins they look like caps from kefir bottles - they have a thin disk. Noneimagesamenuy, only inscriptions, but the quality of the coinage is such that you can easily read the namecities, gde coin was issued, and the year it was born. Dirhams were issued throughoutmanycenturies In the IX-XI centuries. they circulated in a vast area from Central Asia toIrelandand from Norway to Egypt… Well, these coins deserve a lot of respect: proofsilverthey changed very slowly. Thus, dirhams played a role exclusivelynajenoh currency: everywhere and everywhere people trusted their "good quality".

Several trade arteries of international importance passed through the lands of Ancient Rus'. Accordingly, in all major Russian cities, the “most current” coin of the early Middle Ages, the Arabic dirham, settled. Historians know many treasures, consisting of tens, hundreds and even thousands of dirhams. The most significant of them was found in 1973 near Polotsk, near the village of Kozyanki. It consists of 7660 dirhams of the Arab Caliphate of the 10th century. The total weight of the treasure is about 20 kilograms! Scientists believe that this is the treasury of the Polotsk principality, for some reason lost, perhaps stolen.

Sometimes the dirham turned out to be too large means of payment, and then the coin was cut into pieces. Surprisingly, each part was trusted as much as the whole dirham. In Russian sources of that time, Arab "guests" are called nogats, and their slightly "lighter" version - kuns. The halved kuna-dirham was called the characteristic word "reza".

The weight and fineness of the pieces of silver "walked" over a wide range. We see international trade or payments to mercenaries, coins of a high standard were specially issued, that is, with a high content of pure silver. These are the minority. The rest contain a lower percentage of silver. A lot of pieces of silver are basically, paradoxically, copper! This copper was only weakly "ennobled" by an insignificant silver impurity, or, as numismatists say, "traces of silver." Copper pieces of silver make up about 70-80% of the total, and high-grade ones - less than 5%. This is not surprising: in the absence of our own reserves of precious metals, we had to be cunning and save ...
The issue of the first Russian coins itself testifies to the favorable state of trade and the wealth of the Russian princes of that time. But this prosperity did not last long. First, the powerful flow of eastern silver, which enriched Rus', dried up, then the trade routes changed, and, finally, the time came for the political fragmentation of Rus', devastating for the country ...

INXIV-XVIIIcenturiesPoltina was produced only in the form of a bar of silver and was equal to half a rubleingot, siltand ruble. Until 1656, a half was a monetary unit of 50 kopecks, or 5 hryvnias.hryvnia in it inThe time was used as a measure of the weight of precious metals. Distinguished large hryvniaweighing 409.32 gand a small hryvnia, weighing 204. Poltina, introduced by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich,containeda high percentage of copper and after the Copper Riot of 1662 was withdrawn from circulation.

COIN FREE PERIOD

Silver ingot-half. Second half of the 14th century
Western European silver coins still continued to arrive in Rus'. But in the XII century. and this "river became shallow": the money "spoiled". Now too little silver was added to them, and the international trade of that time was “disdainful” of poor-quality coin. So it did not reach the Russian lands and principalities.
In Rus', the so-called coinless period was established. It lasted throughout the 12th, 13th and most of the 14th centuries. Even during the reign of the Horde, eastern silver coins were not widely used in our country. In addition, silver, not having time to accumulate, left Rus' along with other tribute - “exit”.

Money And l and denga began to be minted in the last quarter of the 14th century. Her weight was 0.93 g. silver and corresponded to 1/200 silver hryvnia. It is believed that the decision to mint sobs tvennuyu money in the Moscow principality was associated with the struggle of Dmitry Donskoy against the Tatars. The defeat inflicted on Dmitry Tokhtamysh, who burned Moscow in 1381, forced put the name of this Tatar ruler on Moscow money. Need to mark, that some of the specific princes of that time also bore the name Dmitry and minted him on his coins. This makes it difficult for numismatists to determine the ownership of that or otherwise th money.

In addition to silver hryvnias, fur money was widely used during the coinless period. These were the skins or skins of fur-bearing animals, most often martens. From the fur of this animal got the name kuna - one skin, exchanged for a certain amount of goods. The skins of fur-bearing animals were part of the tribute and embassy gifts. Until the end of the XVII century. Russian diplomats abroad preferred to pay with furs rather than silver coins.
Bilateral icon “Michael the Archangel. John the Baptist." Moscow. 15th century

The time for coins is over. It's time for the hryvnia... This was the name given to silver bars of a certain weight and shape. However, in different Russian cities - Veliky Novgorod, Chernigov, Kyiv - the weight and shape of hryvnias differed. Sometimes they were elongated hexagons, sometimes hexagons with flattened edges, sometimes rods round in cross section, similar to short wands.
Only in the last third of the XIV century. the coin returned to Rus'. It is difficult to determine the exact date when the first minting since the time of the princes Svyatopolk and Yaroslav began. The year was not indicated on the coins at that time, and the annals very poorly cover the monetary business of the Russian Middle Ages. According to historians of monetary circulation, two principalities became the pioneers in the renewal of coinage - Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod under Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich (1365-1383) and Moscow under Prince Dmitry Ivanovich (1362-1389).

COINS OF SPECIFIC Rus'

The whole mass of Russian silver money issued in the XIV-XV centuries is distinguished by rough workmanship and extreme variegated appearance. Coins were made in Moscow, Novgorod the Great and Nizhny, Pskov, Tver, Ryazan, Rostov, as well as in many small towns.
In addition to the well-known rulers of the Russian land, little-known and completely poor specific princes minted their coins: Serpukhov, Mikulin, Kolomna, Dmitrovsk, Galician, Borovsk, Kashin ...
All Russian coins of that time had a mandatory designation - who made the decision to issue them: the name of the prince or the name of the city-state (as numismatists say, the owner of the coin regalia). In all other respects, the money of different state formations of Rus' was very different from each other. This is not surprising: until the 20s. 16th century Russian lands were not united and each ruler was completely politically independent. Therefore) 'a variety of coats of arms, signs, inscriptions were placed on the coins - to the taste of the "customer" and, accordingly, to the demands of the current policy.
At the end of the XIV - the first half of the XV century. dependence on the Horde khans was still quite tangible, and on the coins of many issues there are Arabic inscriptions, including the names of the Tatar rulers. So, under the great Moscow princes Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy and Vasily I Dmitrievich, the name of Khan Tokhtamysh repeatedly appeared on their coins. Subsequently, as Rus' was liberated from Horde dependence, the illegible Arabic script gradually disappears.
According to the historian German Fedorov-Davydov, the images on Russian coins of the 14th - early 16th centuries. “still enigmatic.

Here we have a dragon in front of us, here is a kitovras centaur, then suddenly horsemen with birds appear - falconry, now with a spear, now with a sword, sometimes a head under the horse's feet. Here on the coin are two people with daggers facing each other, or two people are holding some kind of stick between them; we see either a man with a horse, or a bust of a warrior in a helmet with a sword, or a warrior with a sword and shield. An unlimited field for the imagination of a numismatist. The princes of the Moscow house preferred to mint on their money a rooster, a leopard and a rider, who later became the coat of arms of the Muscovite state.
The best quality and rustic beauty in the general flow of Russian silver are the coins of Novgorod the Great (minting began in 1420) and Pskov (minting began around 1425). The first depicted two people - one in a proud pose, with a sword or staff, and the other in the pose of a humiliated petitioner, subordinate. On the second, a portrait of the Pskov prince-hero Dovmont was minted.

"SCALES" OF THE MOSCOW STATE

In the 70s. XV - 20s 16th century there is a rapid unification of Rus'. The powerful Muscovite state is rising to replace the “patchwork quilt” of the times of political fragmentation of the country. It includes one by one the previously independent principalities and lands. Accordingly, year after year, the motley variety of Russian coins decreases: coin silver is unified. In the 30s. In the 16th century, the last "act" of this "play" took place. The Boyar Council under the supreme ruler Elena Glinskaya carried out large-scale reforms). Since then, and for 170 years, a single silver coin has circulated in the Muscovite state.

STAROMOSKOVSKAYA POLUSHKA

In the Moscow state, an ultra-small coin was issued - a half (a quarter of a kopeck). Even the nail on the little finger of a child surpasses it in size. She weighed negligibly little - 0.17 g, and subsequently "lost weight" to 0.12 grams! On one side of the pillow was the word "king" (or "sovereign"). There was clearly not enough space for a full-fledged image of the “rider”, and on the other side, instead of the rider, a simple bird was minted. Initially, it was a dove, but later it was replaced by a barely visible double-headed eagle.

GOLD - IN THE SECOND ROLES

Gold from the time of Saint Vladimir to the beginning of the 18th century. almost never used for coinage, and copper, until the era of Peter the Great, gave way to silver as the main monetary material. There is a unique case of issuing a gold coin in Russia, made according to European models: this is the so-called Ugric (Hungarian) gold coin from the time of Ivan III. Its history still raises questions among researchers, and among collectors it is considered the rarest coin. In addition, in the XVI and XVII centuries. gold coins were often issued, in everything similar to ordinary pennies. They were used as medals: they were awarded to soldiers who distinguished themselves during the fighting.

This old Moscow coin is outwardly simple and unsightly. On one side is a rider with a spear or sword, most likely depicting a ruler. Behind him stuck old name"rider". On the other side is the name of the sovereign (“king and Grand Duke Ivan Vsea Rusin", "Tsar and Grand Duke Boris Fedorovich", "Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich"...). Old Moscow silver is very monotonous, it has never happened before and will never happen again. Rare specific features of individual coins barely distinguish them from the general unity - the designation with two or three letters of the year or city where they were minted: Moscow, Tver, Novgorod the Great, Pskov, Yaroslavl ... In the Middle Ages in Rus', years were designated using a special number, where numbers are represented by letters. Under Peter I, this custom was abolished. But on the silver kopecks of Russian sovereigns, the year of issue was far from always indicated.
Nowadays, old Moscow silver coins are called the ironic word "flakes". They really do look like fish scales. They were made of thin silver wire, so the "flakes" are not round: they are oval or teardrop-shaped. Minted in the Muscovite state a coin of extremely small denominations and small size. The main unit of account was the so-called money. Two money was equal to one kopeck, and 0.5 money - half a penny.
Six money was altyn, 100 - half a 7, and 200 - a ruble.

The peculiarity of the old Moscow monetary system was that altyn, half a ruble, although they were counting units, they were never minted! Russian people looked at large European coins of the taler type with suspicion. And this suspicion, by the way, was justified. A simple Russian kopeck contained “good” high-grade silver, next to which thaler metal could not stand any comparison. Foreign merchants constantly provided low-grade thalers for remelting at the mints, wanting to get the corresponding amount of Russian coins. This process required long, complex recalculations and caused conflicts from time to time.
The government tried to support the high standard of the old Moscow coin in every possible way, but its weight gradually decreased. Under Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584), money weighed 0.34 g, and under Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682) it was already one and a half times less ... Of course, the coins not only became lighter, but also decreased in size. And this created additional difficulties. It was very difficult to place all the words of the inscription on a small uneven plate and correctly position the rider. Often there are "scales" with a headless "rider" and half a legend: everything else did not fit on the coin. The last old Moscow kopecks were minted under Peter I: their minting continued until 1718. It is extremely difficult to read anything on them other than a few letters of the sovereign's name and patronymic.

The so-called silver kopeck of Fyodor Godunov (obverse, reverse). 1605
This coin is a mute witness to the Time of Troubles. It appeared at the time of the interregnum of Boris Godunov (1599-1605) and the impostor False Dmitry I (1605-1606). The throne was supposed to pass to the son of Boris Godunov - Fedor, who died as a result of a boyar conspiracy. A coin with his name was minted a little more than three months, from April 13 to July 7, 1605

MONSTERS COMING TO EUROPE

The government tried to remedy the situation. So, for example, under Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676), the first ruble coin was issued. However, not quite under Alexei Mikhailovich, not quite ruble and not even completely released. Russia did not know a more strange coin!

For the minting of rubles, the government ordered the use of European thalers. They were called in Russia efimki (after the name of the city of Poakhimstal) or tarels. Indeed, a whole handful of “flakes” could fit on a large coin disk of a thaler - like seeds on a plate. So, “native” images were knocked down from the Efimki, and then new ones were applied to them, first of all - a portrait of the king on a horse and with a scepter in his hand. True, there was 64 kopecks worth of silver in the thaler, and the government tried to put it into circulation as a full-fledged 100-kopeck ruble. The population quickly figured out the deception, and nothing good came of this adventure. This deceptive "ruble" has survived to this day in a very small number of copies. Subsequently, efimka still managed to be used, but in a much more modest and honest way. They were simply overmarked: they put the designation of the year (1655) and the “rider”, exactly like on domestic kopecks. They called such a coin "Efimka with a sign", and it went at a fair price of 64 kopecks.

A scattering of Russian coins "flakes". 16th - early 18th centuries

WITNESSES OF THE COPPER REVOLT

Small coins were made from copper). It was called "pool". Pools were much less popular than silver money, and were issued very limitedly. The government of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, known for its adventurous projects in the financial sector, decided to give copper a radically new role. There was a difficult war with the Commonwealth, the front constantly demanded money: foreign mercenaries, if their salaries were not paid, could simply disrupt the next military operation. Under these conditions, a "bizarre reform" of Russian money began: instead of silver "flakes", the government organized a huge emission (issue) of copper - of the same size and the same price. Also, pretty poor quality. The “trick” was that taxes and taxes were collected from the population in silver, and copper was used for government payments. The rate of copper kopecks relative to silver ones rapidly went down. First, for one silver they gave five copper ones, then ten and, finally, fifteen! Unrest began among the people. And in July 1662, the Russian capital breaks out in an uprising. A crowd of townspeople, utterly furious, smashes the houses of the boyars, and then heads to Kolomenskoye, the tsar's summer residence. There was not enough security to disperse the rebels, and Alexei Mikhailovich found himself face to face with angry Moscow. A careless word could cost him his life. Fortunately, government regiments arrived in time and dispersed the rebellion, later called Copper. However, the danger of new performances was considered so serious that the copper coin was canceled in 1663. In the specified order, it was collected and melted down, but it was not possible to collect the entire mass, and many small witnesses of the Copper Riot have survived to this day.

Peter 1 carried out a different reform, completely replacing the old Moscow monetary system with a new one, according to the European model. For modern man it looks familiar, and it seems that the small kopecks of the times of Ivan the Terrible and Mikhail Fedorovich obviously lose to the post-reform Peter's coins. However, we must also remember something else: counting “scales” by weight, and wearing (especially transporting over long distances) was incomparably more convenient than beautiful, but bulky coppers of the Russian Empire ...

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

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

Rus' did not always have its own coins, and this is well known. Payments were made for both services and goods. For a long time, furs served as an equivalent. In the course there was an imperial denarius (Rome), and an eastern dirham, and even a Byzantine solidus. But the era own money came steadily. So....

Silversmiths

The first of the coins minted in Rus' was called a silversmith. She appeared in the time of the book. Vladimir, before Baptism. The lack of small change 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 idea of ​​​​the Byzantine solids: on the one hand - the throne book. Vladimir, on the reverse - Jesus. Later the design changed. The face of the Messiah has disappeared. His place was taken by a trident, Rurik's family coat of arms. The portrait of the prince was surrounded by the inscription: "Prince Volodymyr is on the throne, and this is his money."

Zolotniki (Zlatniki)

Zlatnik (980-1015)

Goldsmiths were present in the course, as were silversmiths. Their coinage was also unfolded by Prince. Vladimir. Only poured coins, as the name implies, in gold. The Byzantine solidus served as the prototype for the goldsmith. The weight was quite impressive - 4 g.

It was a rather rare and expensive coin of a very limited edition. However, popular rumor to this day keeps its name in folklore. Modern numismatists can show 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 Rus'. It originated in the 9th-10th century. It was a heavy 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.

Hryvnias of Kyiv had 160 g of mass and a 6-coal shape of a honeycomb. 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, which circulated in the Volga region. It was called that, "Tatar", had the shape of a boat.

The name of the money comes from a completely unrelated item - a women's neck circlet, made by jewelers in gold. The decoration was worn on the "mane". Hence - "hryvnia".

Vekshi

A perfect analogue of the current penny, old Russian veksha! Its other names are squirrel, string. There is an interesting explanation for the first version. It says that during the circulation of a small silver coin, its “natural” counterpart was a dressed squirrel skin.

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

Kuna

The conversion of the eastern dichrem - historical fact. No less popular was the denarius. The Russians called them both “kuns”. Why?

There are two explanations. First, dressed and stamped marten skins served as the equivalent of both coins. By the way, very valuable, even in those days. Second: the English word "coin" (sounds: "coin"), in translation - "coin".

Rezans

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

Today, archaeologists often find halves and quarters of these coins in ancient treasures. Arab money had a rather large denomination in order to operate with them as a whole in small transactions.

Nogaty

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

With all the variety of coins in Rus', the fact that any trade thing was “tied” to its own money is quite remarkable. Evidence of this is in its text "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". It says that if Vsevolod were on the throne, a slave would be valued at a foot, and a slave would be sold at a cut.

These were the first coins minted in Kievan Rus at the end of the 10th century, then - at the beginning of the 11th century, they were issued in small quantities and for a short time, therefore they did not have a great influence on monetary circulation, but represent a kind of group of cultural monuments of Ancient Rus'.

Under Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich in 988, Christianity became the official religion in Rus'. In the cities, the oldest of which were Kyiv, Novgorod, Ladoga, Smolensk, Murom, handicrafts were actively developed, as well as trade with the southern and western Slavs, peoples of other countries. This led to the production of the first own coins from gold and silver.

The first Russian gold and silver coins were called gold coins and silver coins, respectively. In diameter, the zlatniks reached 24 mm, and in terms of weight they were equated to the Byzantine solid - about 4.2 g. Subsequently, the zlatnik became a Russian unit of weight called the spool (4.266 g). Coin cups for minting were cast in folding molds, which explains the presence of noticeable casting defects on the gold pieces and a significant discrepancy in weight. For the manufacture of pieces of silver, silver from Arab coins was used.

Golden coins and silver pieces were mintedcommon stamps. Obverse: Half-length depiction of the prince, probably seated (judging by the bent small legs under the figure); in a raincoat fastened on the chest, in a hat with pendants and a cross; V right hand a cross on a long shaft, the left one is pressed to the chest. At the left shoulder is the princely sign - a trident. Around the circular inscription from left to right (occasionally from right to left): VLADIMIR ON THE TABLE (or VLADIMIR AND CE HIS SILVER). Around linear and dotted rims.

Reverse side: Chest image of Jesus Christ indeed, with a cross halo; right hand in a blessing gesture, in the left - the Gospel. Around the circular inscription from left to right (occasionally from right to left): ISUS CHRIST (or IC XC under titles). Around linear and dotted rims.

According to experts, the issue of its own coin in Kievan Rus was caused, on the one hand, by the fact that in the economy of the ancient Russian state in the second half of the 10th century. there was a noticeable shortage of silver coins due to a reduction in the receipt of Arab dirhams, on the other hand, political motives, since the presence of its own coin served the task of glorifying the Kiev state and asserting its sovereignty, as evidenced by appearance these coins. Despite the fact that they had significant differences (there are about 11 design options), the obligatory attributes were the image on the front side of the seated Grand Duke of Kiev with a halo over his head, a long cross in his right hand and pressed to his chest with his left, and on the back - the image of Jesus Christ, which in the XI century. was replaced by a kind of state emblem in the form of a trident (the so-called family sign of the Ruriks).

On the front side of the most common coins of that time there is an inscription in Old Slavonic letters “VLADIMIR ON THE TABLE”, that is, occupying the throne, ruling, and on the reverse side - “THIS IS HIS SILVER”, which meant: “And this is his money.” For a long time in Rus', the word "silver" ("silver") was synonymous with the word "money". There are also coins with the inscription on the front side "VLADIMIR AND CE HIS SILVER (or GOLD)", and on the back - "JESUS ​​CHRIST".

Gold coins of Prince Vladimir were produced for a little over ten years - until the end of the 10th century. (11 copies are known), and pieces of silver were also in the 11th century, both by Vladimir and his short-term (from 1015 to 1019) successor on the grand prince's throne, the eldest son Svyatopolk the Accursed (78 copies are known). The cessation of the regular influx of oriental silver and the lack of its own raw material base doomed this economic undertaking to a quick end. In total, no more than 350 golden and silver coins of ancient Rus' have survived to our time. Including about ten pieces of silver of Yaroslav the Wise, which were minted in Novgorod, where he ruled until he seized the throne of Kiev in 1019. George. On the reverse side there is an inscription "Yaroslavl Silver" around the image of the prince's sign in the form of a trident with a circle on the middle prong.

2. Hryvnia, ruble, half

The hryvnia, in the non-monetary period from the 11th to the 15th century, corresponded to a certain amount (weight) of the precious metal and was a monetary unit - “silver hryvnia”. It could also be equal to a certain number of identical coins, and in this case it was called “hryvnia kun”. Kunas were called silver coins, Arab dirhems, and later European denarii, which circulated in Rus'. In the 11th century, the hryvnia kun consisted of 25 dirhams, which was equal in value to a quarter of the silver hryvnia. Both hryvnias became monetary concepts in Ancient Rus'. Silver hryvnia was used for large settlements, foreign dirhams and denarii (kuns) for smaller ones.

In Kievan Rus from the XI century. Kyiv hryvnias were used - hexagonal silver plates, approximately 70-80 mm by 30-40 mm in size, weighing about 140-160 g, which served as a unit of payment and a means of accumulation. However highest value Novgorod hryvnias were in circulation, first known in the northwestern Russian lands, and from the middle of the 13th century. - throughout the territory of the ancient Russian state. These were silver sticks about 150 mm long and about 200-210 g in weight.

The ruble was first mentioned in the Novgorod charters of the 13th century and, being the equivalent of a whole hryvnia or half of it. By the 15th century, the ruble became a counting monetary unit, 200 coins of “scales” amounted to 1 ruble. When cutting the Novgorod hryvnia in half, a payment ingot was obtained - a half, which weighed about 100 g and had dimensions of approximately 70x15x15 mm. Such ingots circulated throughout the “no coinage period” from the end of the 11th century. until the middle of the fifteenth century. in the Russian principalities and neighboring lands.

3. Moscow principality

At the beginning of the XIV century. the strengthening of the Moscow principality began, as a result, there was a need for their own money both for the princely treasury (paying tribute to the Tatars, salaries to military people, etc.), and for trade turnover due to the revival of internal and external economic relations. Therefore, the next Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy (1350 - 1389) began to mint his coin.

The name of the Russian coins "denga" was taken from the Mongolian coin "denga". It is known that 200 coins were minted from a weight hryvnia of silver (about 200 g), which made up the Moscow counting ruble (in those days, the ruble did not exist as a real coin). To make money, the hryvnia was pulled into a wire, chopped into small pieces, each of them was flattened and a silver coin weighing about 1 gram was minted.

Under Dmitry Donskoy, money became the main monetary unit of Rus', later, under some rulers, its half part was also issued - half-denga (polushka).

On the front side of the coins, in the middle of the inner ring, there could be an image of a warrior in profile, turned to the right or left, armed with a sword and an ax, as well as a man without weapons, or a rooster. Between the inner and outer rings was the text: "PRINT OF THE GREAT PRINCE" or "PRINT OF PRINCE THE GREAT DMITRY" in old Russian letters. On the reverse side, Arabic script was first placed. The fact that Rus' during this period was still under the rule of the Tatars forced Prince Dmitry to mint the name of Khan Toktamysh (Tokhtamysh) next to his name: “SULTAN TOKTAMYSH KHAN. LET IT CONTINUE." In the future, the ligature was preserved, but already became unreadable, and in the end it was replaced by the Russian text.

According to the most common opinion, the term "ruble" comes from the verb "cut": hryvnias of silver were cut into two parts - rubles, which in turn were cut into two more parts - half a ruble. There is also an opinion that the ruble, perhaps, owes its name to an ancient technology, according to which silver was poured into a mold in two stages, and at the same time a seam appeared on the edge. The root "rub", according to experts, means "edge", "border". Thus, the "ruble" can also be understood as "an ingot with a seam."

The weight norm of the first coins of Dmitry Donskoy fluctuated between 0.98-1.03 g. However, already in the mid-80s. 14th century money "feel better" to 0.91-0.95 g, and by the end of his reign, the weight of Moscow silver coins decreased to 0.87-0.92 g.

The minting of such coins was continued by other Grand Dukes, descendants of Dmitry Donskoy. Coins were already issued in many large quantities. On their front side, there were various plot images: a horseman with a falcon on his hand (“falconer”); a rider in a fluttering cloak; a rider with a spear slaying a dragon; rider with a sword; a man with sabers in both hands; a warrior armed with a sword and an ax; a four-legged animal with an upturned tail, and even Samson tearing the mouth of a lion.

In addition to silver coins, in Rus' during this period small copper coins were also minted, which were called "pulo". They were made in the princely cities - Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, and therefore the coins had their own names - Moscow pulo, Tver pulo. The denomination of this coin was so insignificant that from 60 to 70 copper pulos were given for one silver money. Their weight, depending on the place and date of manufacture, could be from 0.7 to 2.5 g.

The first money of Ivan III was minted with a weight of only 0.37-0.40 g, and just like the coins of previous rulers could have a variety of images. Subsequently, the weight of the coins was raised to 0.75 g, and images of animals and birds disappeared from their surface. In addition, during the reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich, coins of various principalities were still in circulation, differing from each other both in weight and in design. But the formation of the Muscovite state required the introduction of a single monetary standard, and from now on, the vast majority of Moscow money had on the front side an image of a prince in a large hat (or crown), sitting on a horse, or a rider with a sword in his hand, also symbolizing the Grand Duke of Moscow. On the reverse side, most often, there was an inscription in old Russian letters: "SUPPORT ALL Rus'."

4. Ancient national coins of the Russian kingdom

The monetary reform carried out during the reign of Ivan the Terrible was built on the basis of the merger of the two most powerful monetary systems of the end of the period of feudal fragmentation - Moscow and Novgorod. During the reform, the weight of the coin and the images on it were unified.

Now 300 Novgorodkas (their average weight began to be 0.68 g of silver) were minted from the hryvnia of silver, which were equated to money, or 600 Muscovites (the average weight of 0.34 g of silver). It was actually half money, although it was also considered money. 100 Novgorodkas or 200 Muscovites were the Moscow accounting ruble. In addition to him, the counting monetary units were half, hryvnia and altyn. There were 50 Novgorodkas or 100 Muscovites in the poltina, 10 Novgorodkas or 20 Muscovites in the hryvnia, and 3 Novgorodkas or 6 Muscovites in the Altyn. The smallest monetary unit was a polushka (1/4 money) weighing 0.17 g of silver.

On the heavy weight money Novgorod - a horseman with a spear was depicted, and on lighter Muscovites - also a horseman, but only with a saber. Because of this, already in the course of the reform itself, Novgorod was called "penny money", or "penny". The last name, at first little used, turned out to be, in the end, more tenacious than Novgorod, and has come down to our days. The name change made it possible to more logically build a line of denominations: a kopeck (Novgorodka) was equal to two money (Moskovka) or four polushkas.

On the front side of the half-cups there was an image of a bird, and on the back - the text "SOVER". On the reverse side of the remaining coins, the inscription was first minted in old Russian letters "GRAND PRINCE IVAN OF ALL Rus'", and after 1547, when Ivan IV Vasilyevich was married to the kingdom, "TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE OF ALL Rus'". Naturally, such an inscription could not fully fit on the surface of a coin, the size of which was the size of a watermelon seed, and therefore many words in it were reduced to one letter or, according to the rules of ancient spelling, vowels were omitted in words that were clear to understand. As a result, the inscription on the coins looked like "TSR AND V K IVAN V R" (for a half - "GDAR").

At the same time, they refused to issue copper pools - the new monetary system was based only on silver. Pieces of silver wire served as blanks for money, so the look finished products had no cash yards correct form and somewhat resembled fish scales. Such "flakes" rarely left a whole impression of round stamps. However, they did not strive for this. The main requirement for new coins was to match the weight. At the same time, Western silver - the main material for minting coins - underwent additional purification in Rus'. The money yard accepted silver by weight, carried out a cleansing “coal” or “bone” melt, and only after that minted money. As a result, as experts note, the Muscovite state until the middle of the 17th century. had the highest quality silver coins in Europe.

During the reign of the second son of Ivan IV, Tsar Fedor Ivanovich (1557-1598), the coins of the Moscow State completely retained their weight and design, with only one exception - the inscription on their reverse side (without abbreviations) looked like this: “TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE FYODOR OF ALL Rus'" or "TSAR AND GRAND DUKE FYODOR IVANOVICH OF ALL Rus'".

It should be added that after the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich, the minting of coins of lower denominations (money and a penny), which was less profitable in terms of labor costs, often stopped at long years, while the release of kopecks did not stop under any ruler.

A special place among the coins issued at the beginning of the 17th century, during the reign of Vasily Shuisky, is occupied by a penny and money made of gold. Their appearance is associated with the fact that by 1610 Tsar Vasily Shuisky had exhausted all the reserves of silver in the treasury to pay for Swedish mercenary troops. Under these conditions, the Money Order found a very peculiar way out of the situation. The gold kopeck was minted with the same stamps as the silver one, and for the manufacture of gold money, stamps were used that had been preserved since the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and bearing his name. The rate of gold in relation to silver was set in accordance with the norms of the Trading Book - 1:10, which almost corresponded to the European level. This is how new Russian coins appeared in denominations of 5 and 10 kopecks (10 and 20 money), in design and weight completely corresponding to silver kopecks and money.

5. Russian money of the era of the first Romanovs. 1613 - 1700

During the reign of the new tsar, the entire monetary business was gradually concentrated in the Moscow Kremlin. In 1613 the Yaroslavl and Provisional Moscow Mints stopped working, while the Novgorod and Pskov Mints were closed in the 1920s. 17th century The new Moscow government for the first time since the time of Boris Godunov revived the tradition of minting the entire range of denominations of money (kopek, money, polushka).

On the front side of a penny and money, there were traditionally images of a rider with a spear or saber (sword). On the reverse side of the coins there was a text in old Russian letters with the name and title of the ruling person: “TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE MIKHAIL” (the name of the new tsar could also be written as “Mikhailo” or “Michael”) or “TSAR AND GRAND PRINCE MIKHAIL FEDOROVICH OF ALL Rus'” .

Under the next Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, only the inscription on the reverse sides of the coins “TSAR AND GRAND DUKE ALEXEY” was initially replaced in old Russian letters. The appearance of the pillow has changed more significantly. An image of a double-headed eagle crowned with three crowns appeared on its front side, and the inscription “ЦРЬ” was placed on the back. The weight norm of the coins remained the same: a kopeck - 0.48 g, money - 0.24 g and a half-0.12 g.

In 1654, the government of Alexei Mikhailovich made a decision, leaving the old silver kopecks in circulation, in addition to them, to issue a ruble coin, that is, a denomination that had previously been only a counting unit. Thus began a large-scale, but very unsuccessful and difficult in its consequences, attempt to carry out another monetary reform.

For the manufacture of a new coin, it was planned to use thalers purchased from foreign merchants, and then simply re-mint the images and inscriptions on their surfaces. At the same time, the coin retained the weight and dimensions of the original, which led to the fact that the silver ruble put into circulation was equal to 64 silver kopecks.

On the front side of the ruble, in the middle of the inner ring, there was an image of a rider in a royal hat and with a scepter in his right hand and with his left pressed to his chest. Between the inner and outer ring there was an inscription in old Russian letters: "By GOD'S MERCY, THE GREAT SOVEREIGN, Tsar AND GRAND PRINCE ALEXEY MIKHAILOVICH OF ALL THE GREAT AND SMALL RUSSIA." On the reverse side, against the background of a patterned frame, a double-headed eagle topped with a crown was depicted. Above it, in Old Slavonic letters, the date of minting of the coin “LETA 7162” was indicated (i.e., the date was indicated “from the creation of the world”), and below it was its denomination - “RUBLE”. The copper half had a similar design, but, of course, on the reverse side there was an indication - "Fifty dollars". Silver half-fifty dollars on the obverse side also had an image of a rider in a royal hat and with a scepter in his hand, only he was surrounded by an ornament in the form of large beads. There was also a textual indication of the denomination of the coin, divided into three parts "POL-POL-TIN". On the reverse side, a somewhat abbreviated royal title was indicated: "TSAR AND GRAND DUKE ALEXEY MIKHAILOVICH OF ALL Rus'." Among the ornament surrounding the inscription, the date of minting of the coin was indicated in old Russian letters - "7162".

It soon turned out that the Moscow Mint, with its backward manual technology, was unable to cope with the task assigned to it. Therefore, the issue of round coins (both silver and copper) of great denomination was discontinued, and small copper coins began to be minted according to the old method - on flattened wire. At the beginning of 1655, the government of Alexei Mikhailovich completely abandoned the use of the inferior silver ruble and half-fifty, and the Russian monetary system almost completely returned to the old set of silver coin denominations - kopeck, money, half. For foreign payments, instead of rubles of Russian coinage, they began to use Western European thalers with overmarks on the front side of the penny and the date 1955 - such coins were popularly called "efimki".

The next step in the same 1655 was the manufacture of copper pennies and money, having the weight of silver money and equal to the latter in price. At the same time, all tax payments were accepted only in silver coins. It continued to be minted in limited quantities only at the Moscow Mint, while the rest began large-scale production of copper.

Copper money in circulation (mostly pennies) gradually fell in price, which led to speculation and negatively affected trade. It got to the point that for 1 ruble of silver they gave 17 rubles of copper. By 1659, silver coins had almost completely disappeared from circulation. From 1661, Russian copper money was completely stopped being accepted in Ukraine, and soon they refused to sell bread on them throughout Rus'. Driven to despair, the population in 1662 raised an uprising that went down in history under the name "Copper Riot". And although it was brutally suppressed by the government, already next year, with heavy losses for the budget (although copper money was bought at a rate of 5 to 1 silver kopeck for 1 ruble of copper), a return was made to the "old" silver system that had existed for almost 40 years, before 1700.

It is generally accepted that the beginning of Russian statehood was 882 AD, when the Novgorod prince Oleg and his retinue took the city of Kyiv. From this moment begins official history our state. Like other countries, in Rus' from the very beginning appeared not only government bodies but also money.

The oldest coins found in Rus' are Byzantine silver and gold coins.

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

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

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

However, a full-fledged workshop for the production of coins in Rus' at that time did not appear. The main monetary unit was a silver ingot called Hryvnia.

In the 13th century, the technique of money production changed. Now coins began to be made from silver wire. From here comes the name “Ruble”, familiar to all of us, from the fact that ingots were “chopped” from wire. The sizes of ingots were different in weight and shape. Moscow and Novgorod issued their own rubles. Coins were made from the ruble.

But it was all handicraft. The first mass coins in Rus' began to be made at the beginning of the 15th 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, the mint did not exist, and the coins were produced by silversmiths, who were personally allowed by the prince to mint coins to replenish the coin fund. So coins were minted even by county princes and rich boyars. On the Moscow coins, on the other hand, an inscription in the Tatar language was depicted. 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 “multi-lingual”. This paid off, in the second half of the 15th century and before the inclusion of these lands into Russia, the Russian old coin, called “dengo”, simply held leadership in the region and was an analogue of 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 disappeared.

The next milestone in the history of copper money in Rus' is considered to be 1534, the year when the monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya ends. Now in Rus' they began to mint money of a single state sample. The horseman with a spear was depicted on the coin, hence the new name came from - “penny”. The penny has become for a long time the largest coin of the Moscow kingdom.

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

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 appear, fifty dollars, half-fifty dollars, a dime, a patch with the inscription "Ten money" and Altyn, equal to three kopecks.

Now, on one side of the royal coin, a double-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 - has appeared on the body of the eagle.

In addition to silver, work was also carried out on a copper coin. The fact is that throughout the reign of Peter I, searches were made for the denomination of a copper coin, so copper coins of this period often changed in weight and shape.

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

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

In 1915, it came to the point that the tsarist army did not have shells and cartridges, the soldiers of some units were given axes on long sticks to repel the attacks of the Germans and Austrians. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This state of affairs led to a revolution in February 1917, when bourgeois circles took advantage of the situation, and to the Great October Socialist Revolution. The new government quickly realized the need for their own, new money. The coins of the Soviet era will be discussed in another article...

Money of Ancient Rus': dirhams, kuns, nogaty, hryvnia

money in ancient Russia were generally called "kuns". This word clearly indicates that at one time furs, and mainly mustelids, served as a common measure of value. Initially, valuable furs were used for exchange, of course; but the commercial need for smaller and changeable units forced to resort to crushing the fur; from here came the so-called. "cuts" (i.e. segments) and "nogaty" (paws). IN later time we also meet "half-shells" and "muzzles", which have also passed into the name of metal units in the same way. The transition to leather money was not far from such parts of the fur, i.e. scraps of leather with princely marks. In the middle of the 13th century, the French monk Rubrukvis noticed that the Russians used small pieces of leather with colored signs instead of coins. But such money, if it existed, did not have widespread circulation in Rus'. Only specie could have such circulation. The latter was obtained, like any commodity, by trade with foreigners. Especially a large number of it was delivered from the east from Muslim countries. (However, perhaps these Arab silver money served more for neck and head ornaments than for the needs of trade.) The hryvnia served as a monetary metal unit everywhere in Rus'. Judging by the name, some rightly guess that this unit originated precisely from a metal neck band, which had a more or less certain weight; so that the hryvnia began to denote both the weight and the coin, i.e. bar of the same weight. Not only the shape of this ingot, but also its dignity and weight, and, consequently, the value varied in different regions of Rus'. At the same time, the silver hryvnia differed from the hryvnia kuna. The second was half the size of the first, but also denoted metallic money; she, in fact, was a walking coin. The Novgorod hryvnia kun weighed half a pound of silver, or 48 spools, the Smolensk hryvnia a quarter of a pound, and the Kiev hryvnia a third. Hryvnia kuna consisted of 20 nogat, or 25 kuna, or 50 rezani.

The minting of small coins, gold and silver, began in Rus' according to the Byzantine model, after the adoption of Christianity. Although it was not numerous, the finds of a certain number of such coins testify to its existence (especially the Nezhinsky treasure, found in 1852 and containing up to two hundred pieces of silver, as the chronicle calls them). On their front side, the image of the sovereign, sitting on the throne in full dress, was usually knocked out, with the inscription "Vladimir", or "Yaroslav", or "Svyatopolk", etc.; on the back we find some kind of sign (probably the top of a scepter) with an inscription around: "And behold his silver" or "gold".

The question of the ancient Russian monetary system, with an abundance of numismatists and numismatic collections, has a significant literature in our country. I will name following works: Kruga "Critical research on ancient Russian coins". SPb. 1807. Kazan "Research on the Old Russian Monetary System" (Zap. Archeology. General III). Kachenovsky "On leather money" (posthumous edition. M. 1849). Pogodin "Research and lectures". IV. ch. 7. Voloshinsky "Description of ancient Russian coins found near Nizhyn". Kyiv. 1853. Belyaeva "Were there coins in Rus' before the XIV century?" (Zap. Archeol. General V. He decides the issue in the affirmative). His own "On the ratio of the hryvnia of the XII century to the ruble of the XVI century" (Vremen. Ob. I. and Dr. XXIII). Zabolotsky "On Values ​​in Ancient Rus'". SPb. 1854. Kunik "On the Russian-Byzantine coins of Yaroslav I". SPb. 1860. Letters to him on the same subject by Bartholomew and gr. Uvarov (in Izvestiya Archeol. General vols. II and IV). Prozorovsky "On the coins of St. Vladimir". Proceedings IV Archeol. congress. T. I. Kazan 1884. His "Coin and weight in Russia until the end of the 18th century" (Zap. Archeology. Ob. XII. 1865). The careful work of the latter perfectly clarified the system and value of the metal coin of Ancient Rus'. Review of this essay by academician Bychkov in the ninth award ceremony gr. Uvarov. SPb. 1867. The same Prozorovsky "Ancient Greco-Roman measures and their relationship to Russian" (Izv. Archeol. Ob. IX. 1880). and "On Kunnye Values" (Collection of the Archaeological Institute. IV. St. Petersburg, 1880). Next: prof. Usov "On ancient Russian money according to Russian truth" (Antiquities of Moscow Archeology. Ob. IX. 1883). Gr. I.I. Tolstoy "Dopetrov. Numismatics". Issue. 1st. "Coins of V. Novgorod" (St. Petersburg, 1883). Issue. 2nd. "Coins of Pskov" (St. Petersburg, 1886). Petrov "Coins of Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich of Kyiv" (Proceedings of the IX Archaeological Congress. T. I. 1895).

Regarding the eastern, or Muslim, coins of the 7th - 11th centuries, found in many in Russia, as well as about its ancient trade relations with the East, the most detailed work belongs to P.S. Savelyev "Muhammedan numismatics". SPb. 1846. See also Pogodin "On Russian trade in specific period". "Kiev". III. M. 1850.