i've always wanted one of these "wire money" coins, so i picked this one up recently for 5 bucks. this coins is minted during the time of ivan the iv (ivan the terrible), russias first tzar..but this coin was issued before he had the title tzar, between 1533-1547. i also believe it is a denga, but i have seen some people refer to them as kopeks? the obverse shows ivan on horseback..i think it's ivan. i think the revers read " grand prince ivan", but most of it is missing. about 10 mm and only weighs about 0.5 g. i know they were hammered and that the name "wire money" comes from the minting process, i don't really get exactly why they were called that. (was the metal in wire like pieces?) if anyone know, i'd love to hear.
As I understand the process was to cut a specified length of wire from a roll which would be easier than weighing flans. They were then hammered using mechanically reproduced dies so apparent die matches are common. The OP coin is a denga or half a kopeck. Kopecks usually have a rider with spear and weigh about .6g while denga should be closer to .3g. The OP is heavy if it it fully .5g. This kopeck is of Mikhail Fedorovich 1613-1645 and is my best looking wire. Coins with anything approaching full detail and good strikes or centering are not common. There seems to be a strong market for the rare wire coins but some (including all I have) are extremely common and cheap in average condition.
A related coin I found interesting is a remnant of the Copper Riot of 1662. In 1654, under tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, silver wire coins were replaced with copper ones required to be accepted at equal value. This plunged Russia into an economic crisis resulting in a riot in the streets of Moscow where 1000 people were killed by troops sent to restore order. In 1663 the copper coins were abolished. I understand that the issue of copper coins led to counterfeit issues to profit from the great difference between face and metal values. I do not know how to tell the difference and most coins I've seen are as bad as my example (which actually has a nice horse head). This is a coin that can be said to have a direct connection to a specific historical event even though I have no idea when in the eight years of the copper coins it was issued and whether it is an official or counterfeit coin. I suspect there are Russian coin specialists that understand this. It is one of my later coins. The appearance of the wire coins fools many people into thinking they are ancients. Not long after this, tsar Peter the Great modernized the coinage and ended the wires. His wire coins, however, are smaller and scrappier even than most. I wish I had a 'modern looking Peter I ruble or copper kopeck to show for comparison. This late wire is a kopeck but it still weighs more than 1/100 of the big, beautiful rubles.
thanks all! nice lookin' wires, thanks for info DS. i haven't seen the copper wire..that s very cool. i'll put one of those and a wire coin with the spearman (st. george? is he stabbing a dragon and the dragon is off flan...or wire? ) on "the list". your first posted coin is one of the best i've seen!
