Wire Kopek (Cheshuika)
Early 17th century ・ silver ・ 17th century ・ Moscow Mint
A small silver flan made by cutting a silver wire to a specific weight and striking it with a die. As its later nickname 'fish scale' suggests, it is thin, small, and irregular in shape. The obverse features a horseman with a spear, and the reverse bears the name of the tsar. The horseman's spear (kopyo) is said to be the origin of the name kopek. This production method continued for about three hundred years, from the 14th century to the end of the 17th century.