A penny as the smallest monetary unit was in use long before the arrival of Peter the Great. Nevertheless, it became a real symbol of the Petrine era.
Silver "scales" and coins of pre-Petrine time
1 kopek of Peter 1 firmly came into use as a bargaining chip only by the middle of the 18th century. She owes her appearance in the monetary system to Elena Glinsky. The widespread practice of trimming silver coins seriously undermined the economy of the state. They were often cut off to half their original weight, which caused difficulties in the calculations and, as a result, the discontent of the people.
In 1535, Ivan the Terrible's mother issued a decree according to which all old coins were withdrawn from circulation and replaced with new ones with clearly established weight, denomination and widespread distribution. In fact, it was the first national monetary system.
The weight of the silver penny Elena Glinsky was 0.68 grams. The smaller coin was money (weighing 0.34 g). In the course there were also poles, the weight of which was taken from half a coin or a quarter penny. The smallest monetary unit until the beginning of the 18th century was a copper bullet.
Coins in the pre-Petrine era were minted on scraps of silver wire. Their appearance resembled a cross between watermelon seeds and fish scales. In numismatics, the term “scales” or “scales” was also fixed to them.
1 penny of Peter 1: the new monetary system
By the beginning of the reign of Peter the Great , a serious crisis had ripened in the monetary system of the state. There were still old "scales" in use, but their weight decreased almost three times. They looked more like a watermelon seed than a full-fledged coin, and the king contemptuously called them "lice."
The coin of Peter 1 (1 kopek) had the usual appearance of a flat disk. The king approached the replacement of silver coins with copper ones cautiously, fearing discontent among the people. In 1700 copper coins and money were minted, and only in 1704 did the classical 1 kopek of Peter 1 appear - a copper coin, which equaled 1/100 of the silver ruble.
As in pre-reform times, it depicted a horseman with a spear, on the back there was an inscription. Until 1718, new copper pennies and old silver ones existed in parallel until the second ones were finally replaced.
Numismatic value
Today, 1 penny of Peter 1 is a collectible rarity. The earliest copper coins of 1704 are especially valued. Their cost reaches 25 thousand rubles. Coins of 1705 and later are priced much more modestly. Nevertheless, they are also of considerable interest to numismatists and lovers of antiquity.