Monetary units of the Russian state. The first money of the Russian state

In the 16th century, it was the turn of the Russian tsars to think about a monetary reform, which was supposed to provide a new unified state with coins. Read about how “kopecks”, “poltinas” and “rubles” appeared, how much they weighed in silver and how things came to the Copper Riot in the next century in the new issue of the blog maintained by historian Artem Efimov (and subscribe to his telegram channel “Piastres!”).

Silver denga of the 16th century, Tver

Wikimedia Commons

The unified Russian monetary system emerged at the same time as the unified Russian state - at the beginning of the 16th century. It was finally formalized by the monetary reform of the 1530s. It was conducted by Elena Glinskaya, mother and regent under the young Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich, later Grozny.

The system developed as a synthesis of two largest systems of the specific period - Moscow and Novgorod. The basis of circulation was Moscow silver denga weighing 0.34 grams. It depicted a horseman with a sword, which is why it was also called “sword dengue.” In Novgorod, an ancient merchant center, double money weighing 0.68 grams was minted with the image of a horseman with a spear - they were called “spear money”, or simply “kopecks”.

The important units of account were the hryvnia (20 money or 10 kopecks), the half (100 money or 50 kopecks) and the ruble (200 money or 100 kopecks). They did not exist in physical form, but people counted money for these units. The Russian ruble became the world's first decimal currency.

In the 17th century, only silver money circulated in Russia. At the same time, there were no developed silver deposits of our own yet, and all the silver was imported: foreign merchants paid imported goods (in Russian they were called efimki) customs duties and paid for goods that constituted a state monopoly (furs, potash, smolchug, etc.) ; The treasury also directly bought silver items and foreign silver coins.

Since the middle of the 17th century, there was only one money production enterprise in Russia - the so-called English money court in Moscow. It was so called because it was located on a former English merchant's farmstead on Varvarka (there is now a museum there, the British queen came to open it). There are also suggestions that a technical novelty was used there - a coin-operated screw press purchased in England.

For comparison, in the Ottoman Empire, which was experiencing a crisis in the mid-17th century, seven mints were operating at that time - and this is not counting Crimea, Egypt and other regions with separate monetary systems.

In 1656, shortly after the start of a difficult war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for Hetman Ukraine, Fyodor Rtishchev, one of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich’s trusted advisers, proposed issuing copper money equivalent to silver to replenish the treasury. There were almost no copper mines in Russia either, but copper was much more accessible on the international market. The productivity of the money yard was small, but in a couple of years they managed to saturate the market with copper money.

The treasury accepted payments (taxes, tavern fees, etc.) only in silver, and paid (salaries, for example) in copper. Instead of buying something with silver on the domestic market, it has become more profitable to buy imported goods with it or hand it over for smelting, receiving copper in exchange and spending it. Silver almost disappeared from circulation, and prices in copper money began to rise. In 1662, this led to the Copper Riot in Moscow: the people almost tore to pieces the Tsar's father-in-law Ivan Miloslavsky and several other boyars and merchants; During the suppression of the riot, hundreds of people died or were soon executed.

In 1663, Alexei Mikhailovich abolished copper money. The copper was bought back to the treasury at the market price (of course, significantly lower than the nominal price of copper money) and after some time it was melted down into weights. Russia was again left with a silver standard and a low-money economy - right up to Peter I. We will tell you how everything changed under Peter in the next issue of our blog.

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The history of the development of the Russian monetary system goes back to ancient times. Metal money circulation was widespread in Rus' already during the formation of feudal relations. Furs as monetary units had already become obsolete by that time, and the main monetary unit was the hryvnia, a weight unit used to measure gold and silver. Judging by the "Russian Pravda", the hryvnia and the kuna served as the main metal monetary units not only in trade, but also in the process of collecting tribute.

Another Old Russian coin was the zlatnik (zolotnik) - the first gold coin in Rus', equal in weight to the Byzantine solidus or 4.2 grams. This ancient Russian coin with a Slavic inscription, a portrait of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich and the family coat of arms of the Rurikovichs did not play a special role in trade, but rather served as a symbol of the strength of the state.

Even before the formation of the Kievan state, and then during its existence, foreign trade and wars contributed to the receipt of metal money from the countries of the East, Byzantium, and later from Western countries. According to some sources, the Slavs had gold money back in the 4th-5th centuries. In the monetary circulation of Ancient Rus', ingots played a more significant role than in the West, where the circulation of ingots met with opposition from the feudal lords, who had the right to mint coins and considered every ingot as a material for minting. In Rus', on the contrary, the authorities promoted the circulation of ingots, which are called hryvnia. As social labor grows, the role of money shifts to a greater extent to noble metals. This became possible when crafts as a form of activity were separated from agriculture. Gold, silver, bronze hryvnias, used by women as decoration in the form of a hoop, worn around the neck (on the back of the neck, hence the name) subsequently became the main monetary unit of Rus'. The question of the weight of the hryvnia is usually associated with the question of its origin. If you see in it the “Russian pound”, or half of it, then the hryvnia goes back to the ancient Mesopotamian pound, borrowed by Russia and preserved by us until the introduction of the metric system.

The changing influence of the East, Byzantium and the West consistently influenced the weight of the hryvnia (Arab ounce, Byzantine lira, Western mark). The first Russian hryvnia is considered to be the Kyiv hexagonal hryvnia, the weight of which ranges from 34 to 39 zlatnikov (143-164 grams). At first there was no division of the hryvnia, but then the names “hryvnia of silver” and “hryvnia of kun” appeared in ancient literature. The first mention of the kun hryvnia is found in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1287. The question of what the hryvnia kun is, how it differs from the hryvnia of silver, is one of the controversial issues in the history of money in Rus'. The hryvnia kun was still a coin, since it remained the main monetary unit in the trading capital of Ancient Rus' - Mister Veliky Novgorod - until the 15th century. Then they began to mint their own coins here, and until then there were a lot of foreign coins - Hansa. The same probably happened in Pskov, Smolensk, Polotsk and Vitebsk. The rather rapid fall in the exchange rate of the hryvnia is explained by its intense deterioration in the West, which forced the Novgorodians to begin minting their own coins. The cost of the money issued, i.e. the weight of pure silver in them was in proportion to Western European coins. Coin minting in Kievan Rus began earlier than in many European countries.

The period from the 12th to the 14th centuries went down in the history of Russia as “without coins”. Tatar coins appear in the northeast of Rus'. Since the 13th century, after Russian lands fell under the Mongol yoke, the development of coins took two paths. Since the 14th century, the following appeared in the southwestern lands: Prague groschen, denarius, kvartnik, half groschen, shelyag and other Western coins. At the same time, the minting of Russian coins began in the northeast of Rus'. Money appeared as a coin at the end of the 14th century in Moscow, then in other Russian principalities. In addition to money, half money (polushki) was minted, and in Novgorod and Pskov - quarters, i.e. 1/4 money.

The centralization of the monetary system developed in the 16th century AD. during the time of Ivan the Terrible. The first monetary reform was associated with the establishment of a state monopoly on coinage and regulation of money circulation. At the same time, private orders for minting coins and private mints were liquidated. The centralization of coinage was consolidated only at the Moscow Monetary Court, which was under the jurisdiction of the Great Treasury Order. Silver and copper were mainly used for minting coins. Before the opening of silver mines, the authorities experienced a shortage of silver, and therefore melted down foreign silver coins were used to mint Russian coins.

Under Peter I in 1724, the Mint was opened in St. Petersburg. After the discovery of gold deposits and the beginning of the organization of its industrial mining in Russia, gold coins began to be minted regularly.

The first paper money was issued in Russia during the reign of Catherine II in 1769. They were called banknotes. At first, the rate of banknotes was very high (98-101 kopecks in silver for 1 ruble in banknotes). However, already in 1810, a sharp decline in the rate of banknotes began as a result of the consequences of the Russian-Turkish war. In order to streamline monetary circulation in the same year, the Prime Minister of the Russian government M.M. Speransky. developed the famous “Plan of Finance,” which, among other things, provided for the destruction of banknotes, limiting the circulation of copper coins, as well as the creation of a state bank of issue for issuing bank notes (banknotes) exchangeable for silver. However, this plan was not fully implemented due to the war with Napoleon in 1812. And only in 1839-1843. The banknotes were completely withdrawn from circulation.

In 1860, the State Bank of Russia was created, which began to perform all the functions of the central bank of issue.

At the end of the 19th century, industrial gold mining was already developed in Russia, which made it possible to transform the country's monetary system. Russia switched to industrial gold mining earlier than other countries, ahead of North America by 35 years, Australia by 37 years, and South Africa by 50 years. Gold production at that time reached 42 tons per year. As a result, the State Bank of Russia was able to create a powerful gold fund, and by the beginning of the 20th century, Minister of Finance S.Yu. Witte introduced the gold standard and gold circulation in Russia. Over 5 years, the gold reserves of the State Bank of Russia increased 2.3 times and amounted to 1095.5 million rubles.

By 1913, Russia had become one of the world's major powers and was booming.

One of the first mentions of the monetary units of Ancient Rus' dates back to the times of the Novgorod principality. The main payment units were fur skins - kuns (marten fur), nogat (skins with uncut legs), rezani - trimmed skins (halves, etc.). Subsequently, these names were transferred to the first coins that circulated throughout the territory of the Slavic states.

For a very long time in modern generally accepted history, it was generally accepted that the first monetary unit of Rus' was the so-called leather money. Pieces of dressed thick leather with embossed princely signs and colored seals on the reverse side served, according to historians of the 18th-19th centuries, as an analogue of banknotes or paper money. However, modern research shows the inconsistency of this theory.

Kufic coins

The period of Kievan Rus is much more favorable in terms of studying monetary circulation. In addition to various archaeological finds of this period, historians have no less numerous written sources testifying to the development of the economy of the Russian state.

The period of the 8th-11th centuries was unique for the financial system of Kievan Rus - the entire economy was built on the circulation of foreign money. Coins of eastern states, in particular the Arab Caliphate, and then other states that arose on its territory, were widely used.

Unlike most coins encountered by the Slavs, Arab dirhams did not have any images on their surface. However, each coin was generously covered with special inscriptions - kufi; This is where the name “Kufic” comes from. This made their identification significantly more difficult, and therefore in Rus' the value of such a coin was determined by its silver content.

The circulation of silver Kufic coins reached its greatest quantitative significance by the 10th century, but by the middle of the 11th century their influx into the territories of the Slavic tribes had practically dried up. The reason for this was not political or economic changes, as one might think, but something more prosaic: proven deposits of the precious metal dried up in the East, and the time of the so-called silver crisis came. In internal settlements, the Arab states switched to copper and gold coins, and the monetary influx of silver dirhams into the territory of the Slavs ceased.

For the most part, Kufic silver was called kuna by the Eastern Slavs. This word denoted coins of average quality, uncut, but already worn and not having “full” weight. Coins of the best quality - exemplary, selected - were called nogata. The cut silver was called rezany, and the pieces of kuna - particles of a full-fledged coin - were called vereveritsa (this is how the smallest and least valuable skin - squirrel skin - was called in the northern lands).

Coinless time

Starting from the end of the 11th century until the end of the 13th century, and in some lands until the middle of the 14th century, the circulation of coins in the territory of the Slavs practically ceased. The volume of Kufic coins dried up, and European denarii and eastern gold dirhams that occasionally found their way to the Slavic lands were not generally accepted by the people as small change. During this period, the main monetary equivalent was the silver bar - hryvnia.

Each principality adopted its own form of grivna or hryvnia - from a long silver wire to a faceted hexagon; They also differed in weight. The circulation of the hryvnia largely predetermined the modern Russian and Russian decimal monetary system. Thus, one hryvnia was often called a ruble, since it was cut into pieces to obtain monetary units of a lower “denomination” - denga or, as it was later called, kopecks.

The first Russian coins

Chopping the hryvnia into equal shares could not but give rise to the need for subsequent identification of the resulting pieces of silver - denga. On each such flattened silver circle they began to put an imprint of the prince's seal, and then various other symbols. This is how the first Russian coins appeared in the 14th century.

It is generally accepted that the minting of its own coins first began in the Moscow Principality. Then the Suzdal-Novgorod principality, Ryazan, Tver and others acquired their own money. However, this time gradation is rather arbitrary and is based on fragmentary data from chronicles and treasures found in the territories of the former principalities.

A characteristic feature of the circulation of the first Russian coins was the absence of a momentary court in its classical sense. And although the prince nominally had sole authority over his own "currency", the actual minting of coins became another branch of the craft. The silversmith bought the right to mint from the prince and made coins for everyone in need, that is, for those who ordered it - merchants, boyars or the same prince. Of course, it is impossible to talk about a calculated and balanced financial system with this approach.

The beginning of the 13th century, however, many historians agree that the ruble, as a monetary concept, existed earlier, possibly since the 10th century.

Origin of the concept

The history of the emergence of the ruble is directly related to the history of the Novgorod Land. The first written mention of the ruble dates back to 1281-1299. At that time, many fragmented Russian principalities used the Kyiv hryvnia as a currency. We can consider that the history of the development of the ruble is a continuation or even a “branch” of the history of the hryvnia.

At the beginning of the 13th century, 200-gram silver bars in the form of sticks were in use in Novgorod, which, with their oblong shape and weight, resembled the hryvnia - the monetary unit of Kievan Rus. However, unlike Kyiv, in Novgorod these bars were called “ruble”.

The history of the Russian ruble connects the name of the monetary unit with ordinary Russian people. Since the name is distinguished by its belonging to the vernacular, it is likely that bullions began to be called the ruble long before the first mention in documents, which is why it is very difficult to determine the exact time of origin of the ruble.

Value

There is no consensus regarding the value of the first rubles. In the fragmented principalities, they used silver bars - hryvnias or rubles; for smaller payments, foreign coins, denarii and dirhams, called “kunas” in Russian, were used.

Sometimes 200-gram bars had to be cut into half or smaller pieces for the accuracy of calculations. This fact complicates the determination of the exact value of the ruble, since according to some sources, the ruble was an analogue of the hryvnia, and according to others, it was its “stump” equal to 100 grams.

It is likely that the fragmented principalities did not fully agree on the names of monetary units, and the ruble in Novgorod was really equal to the hryvnia, and the ruble in Moscow was half as much. It has been proven that the Lithuanian rubles that appeared later weighed 100 g.

Etymology of the word

The history of the ruble does not contain data on the exact origin of the term. Today, there are four main options for the origin of the word “ruble”. The main version is that the ruble is a derivative of the word “rub”, which means “seam”. The Novgorod ruble was minted using a technology according to which first half of the silver was poured into the mold, and then the second part, while a seam was formed in the middle of the ingot. Hence the popular name for the ingot - ruble.

According to the second version, the root of the word comes from the verb “to chop.” In this case, scientists are considering two possible options. The first - the ruble was part of the hryvnia, or rather, a quarter of it; that is, half a dime, cut in half. The second option - the Novgorod ruble differed from the Kyiv hryvnia by notches that specified the dignity and value of the silver bar.

The remaining two versions suggest the borrowing of the term from other languages. Perhaps the word "ruble" has common roots with the word "rupiah", which means "silver that has undergone processing." In addition, there is a likely connection with the Arabic word for “quarter,” which sounds like “rub.”

The history of the ruble stops at the first two versions, since historians share the opinion that the word “ruble” belongs to the vernacular, which does not agree with the possibility of borrowing the term.

First rubles

The use of solid ones was extremely inconvenient, but continued until the 14th century, when, during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, new small coins began to be minted. Each coin weighed a little less than one gram and was called “denga”, being a legacy of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. It is from this moment that the history of the ruble coin begins.

The coins differed in shape, as it was difficult to mint a perfect circle, however, the weight and seal in the center of the coin were the same. The design of the seal could differ depending on the principality in which the coins were minted.

Thanks to the transition to smaller money, payments became much more convenient and over time, 200-gram bars came out of use among the common people and began to be used only in wholesale trade.

Under the influence of the political power of the Novgorod and Moscow principalities, as well as the Western Russian Principality of Lithuania, by the 15th century, the ruble completely replaced the hryvnia and became not only the name of the bullion, but also a philistine concept adopted for calculating and calculating the amount of money in the household.

Changes and reforms

The first widespread monetary reform of the ruble was carried out in the middle of the 16th century. In 1534, a unified monetary reform began in Moscow, the purpose of which was to unify the coins used for payments, as well as to rid the domestic market of foreign currency, which was causing confusion in trade.

The main monetary unit was the Moscow ruble, which consisted of 200 Moscow money or 100 Novgorod money. Subsequently, Novgorod coins began to be called “kopeks”, and Moscow coins - “mechenki”. These names are associated with the seal on the back of the coins. A warrior with a spear on a horse was minted on the kopeck, and a warrior with a sword was minted on the tag. The smallest coin was considered a half coin, that is, half a mark; often it was just a coin, chopped or broken in half.

Since silver bars in ruble denominations completely fell out of use during the 16th century, the ruble remained nothing more than a unit of measurement until the mid-16th century.

In 1654, a one-ruble coin was minted for the first time. In fact, these were re-minted German coins, on which the coat of arms was printed on one side and the king on horseback was depicted on the other side. The coin was called “ruble”, but weighed less than its denomination - 64 grams.

Under the reign of Peter I, money began to be minted independently, and a number of changes were made and copper pennies weighing 28 g and denominations of 1/100 of the ruble were introduced. In addition to copper kopecks, gold chervonets were also introduced in denominations of 3 rubles and weighing just over 3 g of gold. Later, by the end of the 18th century, the weight of silver in a 1 ruble coin dropped to 18 grams.

Banknotes

The first paper rubles appeared during the reign of Catherine II, in 1769. These notes were in use for 50 years; at this time, their printing was not controlled by the state, which led to the actual collapse of the economy, since there were more paper rubles than the precious metals that provided them. In 1843, banknotes were completely withdrawn from use.

The first failed banknotes were replaced in the same year by bank notes, however, for the same reasons, banks soon stopped exchanging them for silver and gold - there was more paper money than metal allocated for collateral.

The reform of 1897 introduced a new paper ruble backed by gold. Rubles were printed using a new technology that involved the use of several colors and different levels of protection. The multicolor Oryol seal (named after Ivan Orlov) made it possible to avoid counterfeits and increase state control over the issue of the number of banknotes.

The beginning of the twentieth century and the tsarist monetary system

The period of the collapse of the Russian Empire and the formation of Soviet Russia is usually called the “Time of Troubles.” Not surprisingly, the history of the Russian ruble during this period is considered the most complex and the number of official and unofficial changes in the currency is difficult to count.

Even during the Japanese War, the Empire began to experience a shortage of funds; Popular discontent, attempted coups, and Russia's entry into the World War actually left the Empire with an extreme shortage of money. All coins, even the smallest ones, disappeared from use.

In practice, everything that was called rubles for reporting purposes and was used in trade did not have even the smallest value, since it was not backed up by a reserve of precious metals. Self-printed banknotes, wine labels, and even drawn money began to be called rubles. In the history of the development of the ruble, as well as in the history of the country, this period can be considered the most unstable.

The history of the ruble in Russia during the early Soviet period begins in 1923, when the first equivalent to 10 imperial rubles was minted. To exchange chervonets, silver coins were issued - silver coins. These are one of the rarest Soviet coins, since chervonets and silver coins were used mainly for foreign transactions; there were practically none of them left on the territory of the country.

Since the 30s. In the 20th century, paper rubles and small change coins made of cheap metal alloys began to appear. The government's efforts to bring money to a single format continued until the middle of the century, while the appearance of rubles and kopecks changed very often.

1961 reform

The most large-scale monetary reform in the history of the USSR and, perhaps, Russia as a whole was prepared over the course of 10 years. The materials and value of the new ruble were selected, a single format was drawn up, and a single design was chosen. Over the next few years, the Union completely replaced everything with new ones.

One ruble of the new model was equal to 10 old rubles (the first Soviet model) and had a gold equivalent of 1 g of gold. Everyday coins were no longer minted, except for the issue of coins dedicated to important events or anniversaries.

Modern Russian ruble

The history of the ruble underwent another crisis in the early 90s. After the collapse of the USSR, the old Soviet rubles were in use until 1993, when inflation and the economic crisis completely crippled the national currency and did not allow a painless transition to the format.

To avoid an increase in inflation, a monetary reform was carried out in 1993 and new banknotes with a large number of zeros were introduced into circulation. In 1998, the government of the Russian Federation carried out a series of monetary reforms, followed by the redenomination and issue of new banknotes, which are still in circulation today.