Yesterday I was lucky enough to make the acquaintance of a fellow ancient collector from Somerset who sells coins in an emporium near Yeovil. We showed off some of our coins and from the selection he had for sale I was attracted to a tiny hammered silver Denga of Ivan IV (Ivan the terrible). Hardly old enough to call ancient, but I thought you may want to see the coin and I have edited and attached a short write up about Ivan which takes 5 minutes to read if you fancy. The coin weighs a measly 0.32g and is 10mm at its widest point. This is actually a pretty good coin as far as wire money goes, with most being very poor obverse strikes. OBVERSE: an image of a horseman with an upraised sword or saber REVERSE: engraved in old cyrillic letters "КНSЬ / ВЕЛÏКI / IВАN" ("Grand Prince Ivan") post any hammered silver russian coin pics if you have any..... Production of so called "wire money" - coins made from silver wire, began in some Russian fiefdoms when the Golden Horde's control over occupied Russian territories began to weaken in the middle of the 14th century. From that point on, the wire coinage was the official currency in Russia until 1718. read on if you have 5 minutes...... The grandson of Ivan the Great, Ivan the Terrible, or Ivan IV, acquired vast amounts of land during his long reign (1533-1584), an era marked by the conquest of the khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberia. Ivan the Terrible created a centrally controlled Russian state, imposed by military dominance. Many believe him to have been mentally ill. One of his violent outbursts was perhaps the reason for his son's death. The first tsar of all Russia, Ivan the Terrible, or Ivan IV, had a complex personality. Intelligent yet prone to outbreaks of uncontrollable rage, Ivan's tragic background contributed to his infamous behavior. Not a lot of detail is known about his early life, and historians debate his accomplishments as a leader. However, it is generally agreed that his reign established the current Russian territory and centralized government for centuries to come. The grandson of Ivan the Great, Ivan the Terrible was born Ivan Chetvyorty Vasilyevich on August 25, 1530, in the Grand Duchy of Muscovy, Russia, to members of the Rurik dynasty. His father, Basil III, died when he was 3 years old. His mother, Elena Glinskaya, ruled as regent until her death in 1538, when Ivan was 8. During this time, the realm rapidly degenerated into chaos as rival boyar (noble) families disputed the legitimacy of her rule. The court intrigue and constant danger that Ivan was exposed to while growing up molded much of his ruthless and suspicious nature. Evidence indicates that Ivan was a sensitive, intelligent boy, neglected and occasionally scorned by members of the nobility who looked after him after his parents' death. The environment nurtured his hatred for the boyar class, whom he suspected of being involved in his mother's death. He reportedly tortured small animals as a boy, yet still managed to develop a taste for literature and music. In 1547, Ivan IV was crowned tsar of Muscovy. That same year, he married Anastasia Romanovna. In 1549, Ivan appointed a council of advisers, a consensus-building assembly who helped institute his reforms. During what is considered the constructive period of his reign, he introduced self-government in rural regions, reformed tax collection, and instituted statutory law and church reform. In 1556, he instituted regulations on the obligations of the boyar class in service of the crown. In foreign policy, Ivan IV had two main goals: to resist the Mongol Golden Horde and to gain access to the Baltic Sea. Ultimately, he aimed to conquer all remaining independent regions and create a larger, more centralized Russia. In 1552 and 1556, Ivan's armies crushed the Tartar khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, respectively. This extended Muscovy control to the Urals in the east and the Caspian Sea in the south, creating a buffer zone against the Mongols. (Ivan commissioned St. Basil's cathedral in Moscow's Red Square, built between 1555 and 1561, to commemorate the conquest of the Tatar city of Kazan.) Ivan was not as successful, however, at annexing Lithuania and gaining access to the Baltic: One of his advisers defected to Lithuania and led its army to defeat Ivan IV's offensive. While his initial efforts were successful, Ivan the Terrible's methods disrupted the economy and culture. He seized private lands and redistributed them among his supported, and created a police force dressed all in black, astride black horses, that existed more to crush dissent than to keep the peace. Thusly, Ivan was not a popular leader, and his unpopularity would continue to grow over the next several years. Upon the death of his first wife in 1560, Ivan IV went into a deep depression and his behavior became more erratic. His suspicion that she had been murdered by the boyars only deepened his paranoia. He left Moscow suddenly and threatened to abdicate the throne. Leaderless, the Muscovites pleaded for his return. He agreed, but on the condition that he be granted absolute power of the region surrounding Moscow, known as the oprichnina. He also demanded the authority to punish traitors and law breakers with execution and confiscation of property. Over the next 24 years, Ivan IV conducted a reign of terror, displacing and destroying the major boyar families in the region, and earning the moniker by which he's now best known. (He's also known by the nickname "Grozny," which roughly translates as "formidable or sparking terror or fear.") It was during this period that Ivan beat his pregnant daughter-in-law, causing a miscarriage, killed his son in a subsequent fit of rage, and blinded the architect of St. Basil's Cathedral. It was also during this time that he created the Oprichniki, the first official secret Russian police force. In 1584, with his health failing, Ivan the Terrible became obsessed with death, calling upon witches and soothsayers to sustain him, but to no avail. The end came on March 18, 1584, when Ivan died of an apparent stroke. He had willed the kingdom to his unfit son, Feodor, whose rule spiraled Russia into the catastrophic Time of Troubles, leading to the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty. When Ivan the Terrible died, he left the country in disarrary, with deep political and social scars. Russia would not merge from the chaos until the reign of Peter the Great more than a century later.
Atta-boy, YOC => sweet thread ... I read most of it I still need to snag one of these cool wire coins (thanks for pointing my cross-hairs towards 'em) cheers, coin-bro
For those of us who collect coins made by old methods, wires can be classed as the 'last ancients' regardless of their late date. Ivan IV's coins were pretty well made compared to some reigns and the really rare, early or local issues can be really crude looking. Why wire? It was relatively easy to draw a wire through a die of accurate thickness so cutting a specific length would produce blanks of consistent weight. Striking them so they got detail on flan was another matter. The worst are probably the last of Peter I where it might take half a dozen to reconstruct the entire design. Unlike ancients, the dies were made from hubs so it is not at all unusual to find coins that appear to be from the same dies. Actually they are probably just from different dies from the same hub. I learned this when I feared I was seeing fakes since there were too many die duplicates according to my ancient experience. I am not saying there are no fakes; I am not expert enough to know. There are some Russian sellers of these on eBay that offer all ranges of rarity and price. I have trouble believing the prices of the high end ones. All mine are beginners' models but you may have to sort through a pile to find them any more complete. YOC's coin is a nice one. Ivan IV as Grand duke AR denga (half kopeck) another a third Ivan IV as Tsar kopeck (with spear) Boris Godinov kopeck Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov kopeck another Alexei Mikhailovich AE kopeck of the Copper Riot - interesting story about what happens when you mess with the money. This one is not the worst I've seen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Riot Peter I kopeck - small and thick another (and about as full flan as I have seen) - Some of these are year dated under the horse but getting the date well struck is not common unless you are willing to give up having the rider on flan. This may be 1699. This coin is .01g lighter than the smaller one above but it was just hit harder so it spread out wider.
I've been wanting to get one of Ivan, they're cheap enough but something else comes along. Nice addition, YOC.
nice write up YOC, cool to see some wire money! i have several of these, and don't get to post them very often. i'd like to get one of the base metal ones like dougs. these thing look completely out of place in m modern coin album!
Wow......I cant believe how many of CT members have these. Should have known Doug would have a few and some in depth knowledge on the coin type/s too, thanks Doug.
Doug, can you explain please...I dont understand this. Do they use wire as per my OP? I'd like to know so I can delete if its inaccurate. Thanks
