I recently picked up around 100 pieces of wire money from Russia. These hammered coins were made from silver wire, and continued to be struck for decades after most European mints had converted to coin presses (from the 1400s to 1722). I've got a lot to learn about these and would appreciate any help attributing them. My basic understanding is that if the horseman is holding a saber over his head, the coin is likely a denga (half kopek), and if he has a lance, the coin is likely a kopek. The date (or parts of it) can be found on about 23 of the 112 coins in my mini hoard. Since these are hammered, the coins often have only a fraction of the design on them. They may also have been clipped or trimmed even beyond normal use (these coins had no security ridges or edge lettering to prevent such defacement). Here's a piece I'll call #1. Unlike most, it seems to have a surplus of Cyrillic numerals visible
Here's a piece I'll call #2. The block like letter below the horse's belly may be the date. A single character seems odd though.
Here's a piece I'll call #3. This one's quite a bit darker and broader struck than most of the other pieces I've seen. The two characters I see appear to be 80 & 200 according to this guide to Cyrillic numerals. I'm not quite sure what that means. Https://www.metaldetectingworld.com/cyrillic_numeral_identification.shtml
Here's a piece I'll call #4: The Cyrillic numeral similar to a lowercase letter "a" is a 1, which suggests to me it was minted in the first year of reign for a Czar or one of the many princes who also produced these coins under their own authority (or in excess of it).
Here's a piece I'll call #5: The Cyrillic numeral that looks a little like a trident seems to be a 700, indicating that this was a Peter the Great issue from between 1700 & 1722. Strangely, there are as many as 6 different ways that each date is written, & I still can't recognize the "lazy r" on this piece.
The best site I've ever seen for Kopeks is silver-copeck.ru . If you can read the ruler and place names, I am certain you can find exact line drawings of your kopeks.
The first one is a kopek of Michael, the first Romanov ruler. The thing underneath it is not numerals, but the mint, Moscow. I can't narrow down the range of years, but the site I recommended above can help. The fourth one is Peter the Great, and it has a nice clear year too, unlike mine. Again, the site should help.
The common name for these wire coins is "scales"(Чешуя) . For example, the first - a penny(kopeika=копейка) , Mikhail Fedorovich, 1613-1645
Peter the first ( Пётр первый) - as it is called in Russia. During his reign, a monetary reform was carried out and such coins ceased to be made. Sorry for my English))
