Money of Kievan Rus'
The history of monetary systems of Kievan Rus' is divided into two main phases: the period of use of foreign silver coins and the Coinless period
IX - The beginning of the XII century
The fur of small fur animals has long been one of the main types of monetary substitutes. It was highly valued in other countries, which allowed for a profitable trade. Also known as a substitute for money were small cowries shells. But nevertheless finds of skins and shells come across not so often. The basis of all the treasures dating back to this period were foreign silver coins.Together with the emergence of the first ancient settlements in the late VIII - early IX century, foreign coins appeared on Slavic lands of Eastern Europe. The formation of money circulation started when active trade in Northern and Eastern Europe with the countries of the Caliphate began. Eastern European countries, deprived of large ore reserves of monetary metal, actively imported silver. In the first third of the IX century, coins which were minted in the African centers of the Caliphate and which reached Rus' via the Caucasus and Central Asian trade routes became widespread in ancient Rus'. Dirhams were used as a means of payment, worn as jewelry and melted down. In the northern regions, Western European denarius of German, English and Scandinavian coinage came to replace dirhams. They were in circulation until the beginning of the XII century, when the circulation of foreign coins ceased, most likely due to a decrease in the silver sample, and replaced by silver bars, held out until the middle of the XIV century.
The main means of circulation in Rus' were cuttings from dirhams weighing 1.38 grams, which were 1/200 of Byzantine litras. Similar cuttings were used on the lands of Rus', but their weight was 1.04 grams or 1/200 silver hryvnia.
At the turn of the X - XI centuries at the time of Vladimir the Great and Svyatopolk was made an attempt to stamp Rus' coins.
Hryvnia - Kuna monetary system
Kuna
Kuna is a weight and monetary unit, as well as the name of the coins used in Russia in the X - XV centuries. Russian money circulation arose at the beginning of the IX century due to the massive penetration into the Rus' lands of the eastern dirham weighing 2.73 g which gets the name "Kuna". Later, with the advent of Western European silver coins in Russian money circulation, the European denarius became also known as kuna. As a result, money began to be called kuna in general.As the currency of Ancient Rus', kuna was 1/25 hryvnia in the X - XI centuries, 1/50 hryvnia before the beginning of the XIII century. A “Kuna system” has taken shape: 1 kuna = 2 g of silver = 1⁄25 hryvnia = 2 rezanas = 6 vekshas.
Hryvnia
Hryvnia is the monetary and weight unit in Ancient Russia. It was used, in particular, to measure the weight of silver and gold. The golden hryvnia was 12.5 times more expensive than silver one. The first weight unit referred in the ancient Rus' chronicles.Original article Hryvnia Grivna
Veksha
Veksha is the smallest monetary unit of Ancient Rus of the IX - XII centuries. It was first mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years; also it was mentioned in the Rus' Justice. It was equaled to 1/6 kuna. Silver veksha weighed about 1/3 grams.In real money circulation, 2 vekshas were equal to Western European denarius. The ancient Rus' translators of Byzantine authors identified veksha with the Byzantine copper coin “Nummi”. Proponents of the so-called fur theory of monetary circulation in the Ancient Rus' consider the Veksha to be tanned squirrel skin, which was used simultaneously with its coin counterpart
Rezana
Rezana is the monetary unit of Ancient Rus and neighboring lands. Cuted half of the Arab dirham was called Rezana, that is, 1 cut was equal to about 1.38 grams of 900th sample silver.The name Rezana is derived from the verb REZAT' and originated from the old Russian. When dirham received the name “Kuna”, the equivalent of a part of kuna was called “rezana”. Fragments of dirhams are often found in ancient Rus' treasures. The fragmentation of dirhams indicates that the whole coin was too large for small trade transactions.
In the IX century. Rezana was equal to 1/50 of the hryvnia, in the XII century equated to kuna due to the fact that kuna became twice as light and was not 1/25, but 1/50 hryvnia. Kuna and rezana existed in parallel, but gradually the counting on the kuna became more common. Rezanas existed until the XII century, when the flow of silver dirhams from Muslim countries finally dried up.
Rus' coins
Zlatnik
Zlatnik - the first ancient Rus' gold coin, minted in Kiev in the late X and early XI centuries, shortly after the Christianization of Kievan Rus' by Prince Vladimir.The real name of these coins is unknown, the term “zlatnik” is used in numismatics traditionally and is known from the text of the Rus'-Byzantine treaty of the year 912 of the Prophetic Oleg. 1 zlatnik was 1/35 of kievan gold hryvnia. The mass of Zlatnik was later used as the basis for the Russian weight unit, the Zolotnik.
The appearance of Rus' coinage was the result of the revival of trade and cultural ties with Byzantium. The obvious model for Vladimir's Zlatniks was the Byzantine Solidus of the emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII, which are similar to the Zlatniks by weight and the arrangement of images.
General information
It has been repeatedly suggested that the start of minting in Rus' of its own coin did not so much meet the requirements of the economy but the significance of the Kievan Rus' state. Silver coinage continued at the beginning of the XI century under the reign of Svyatopolk and Yaroslav, however, the coinage of Zlatniks after the death of Vladimir no longer resumed. Judging by the small number of copies that have come down to us, the release of Zlatniks was extremely short in time and small in volume. However, all currently known copies of Zlatniks found in treasures, along with other coins of that time, bear traces of being in circulation - therefore, these coins were not ritual, award or gift. In the XI century, judging by the findings of these coins in the treasures in Pinsk and Kienburg, Zlatniks also participated in international money circulation.Description of the coin type
Reverse: a chest portrait of Prince Vladimir in a hat with pendants topped with a cross. Bent legs are schematically shown below. With his right hand, the prince holds a cross, his left hand on his chest. Above the left shoulder is shown a characteristic trident, a generic sign of Rurikovich. Around in a circle Cyrillic inscription: ВЛАДИМИРѢ НА СТОЛѢ. On two coins from known 11, the inscription is different: ВЛАДИМИРѢ А СЕ ЕГО ЗЛАТО.Obverse: the face of Christ with the Gospel in the left hand and with the blessing right hand. In a circle inscription: ІСУСѢ ХРИСТОСѢ..
Srebrenik
Srebrenik - the first silver coin minted in Kievan Rus at the end of the X century, then - at the beginning of the XI century with arbitrary weight from 1.73 to 4.68 g.General information
The issue of the coin was not caused by real economic needs but by political goals: the coin served as an additional sign of the sovereignty of the Christian sovereign. Srebreniks were issued in small quantities and not for long, that's why they did not have a big impact on monetary circulation in Russia.Arabian silver coins were used for minting. Srebreniks were minted in Kiev by Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav the Wise in Novgorod. A separate group is formed by coins of the Tmutarakan prince Oleg Svyatoslavich, minted in 1083-1094.
Description of the coin type
Compositions of pieces of silver are divided into several types. Srebreniks of the first issues basically repeated the type of Byzantine coins. In the XI century, the image of Christ was replaced by a large patrimonial sign of Rurikovich. A legend was placed around the portrait of the prince: “Vladimir on the throne, and here is his silver”.Srebrenik of Yaroslav the Wise differed from the described appearance. On one side, instead of Christ, there was an image of St. Georgy, on the other - the patrimonial sign of Rurikovich and the inscription: “Yaroslavs silver” without the words “on the throne”, which gives reason to attribute their release to the period of Yaroslav's reign in Novgorod during the life of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. Yaroslav’s Srebrenik is a unique phenomenon in the coin production of Europe of the XI century in relation to the masterful execution of a coin stamp, sometimes even causing suspicions that these are later fakes. A completely different type is represented by the Tmutarakan coins, on one side of which was an image of the Archangel Michael, and on the other side the inscription: “Lord, help Michael”. The technique of making Srebrenik has its own characteristics. Circles were not cut from the plate, but were molded.
Coinless period from XII century (commodity-money)
Description of the period
The coinless period is a period in the history of the currency of Ancient Russia, characterized by an almost complete absence of both foreign and domestic coins. After the extinction of the inflow of eastern coins to Russia due to the weakening of the Caliphate, they were replaced by commodity-money. This period began in the XII century and ended in the XIV century. Commodity money were used as a medium of circulation. Large calculations were made with the help of cattle and silver ingots - hryvnias; for small calculations was used fur, sometimes glass bracelets, beads, spindling, and other standard products of ancient Russian crafts. In some cases, even the cowry shells, which in Siberia retained their value as a small change coin until the beginning of the XIX century.Starting with the establishment of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the economy of the ancient Russian principalities is increasingly acquiring natural features. The main function of money became the function in the means of accumulation: coins were hoarding and deposit in treasures. This period was called coinless, covering the XII, XIII and XIV centuries.
Own silver deposits were discovered in Russia only in the XVIII century, therefore the country's monetary economy depended entirely on the influx of this metal, primarily in the form of a coin, from abroad. In the XII century, this influx began to shorten from the western direction, and in the XIII century from the eastern.
The end of the coinless period is associated with the gradual restoration of trade relations, with the beginning of the spread of Juchi coins
Ovruch slate spindle whorl
Ovruch slate spindle whorl - spindle whorl, carved out of pink and red slate stone, which was mined in the territory of present-day Ukraine, near the town of Ovruch in the X - XIII centuries. Ovruch masters diligently repeated the most successful form of a clay spindle whorl - biconical The spindle whorl weighed on average about 16 g, the height was from 4 to 12 mm, the outer diameter was from 10 to 25 mm, the diameter of the hole for the spindle was 6-10 mm. If the spindle whorl turned out to be too narrow, it was wrapped with a thread so that it would not slip during rotation. Slate - soft stone; on the samples found by archaeologists, there are still scuffs from the threads. The production of slate spindles in Ovruch was designed for wide sales. The merchants who bought the consignment of the spindle whorls made a considerable way with them, sold them in different lands. Ovruch spindle whorls are found by archaeologists not only in the territories of Kievan Rus, but in other regions. Production of spindle whorls was designed for a wide sale. According to A. V. Artsikhovsky, "they are exactly the same in Kiev and Vladimir, in Novgorod and Ryazan, even in Cherson, in the Crimea and in the Bulgaria on the Volga." The Ovruch spindle whorls were so valued that the owners carved their personal tags on them, and after the spread of writing - carved their names. In the XIII century, the stone spindle whorls become clay again: the Tatar-Mongol invaders destroyed Ovruch workshops.The role of spindle whorls at the coinless period
At the coinless period, various silver hryvnias existed in Russia, but the main types were Kiev ingots of the XI - XIII centuries in the shape of an elongated hexagon weighing 135–169 g and Novgorod - longitudinal bars with a stable average weight of 197 g, preserved in circulation until the XV century. For this period coins disappeared in Russia. For large payments were used hryvnia-ingots.The original theory of commodity-money was proposed by V. L. Yanin. The scientist stated that the role of money for small payments could be fulfilled by some uniform and widespread products in Ancient Russia - such as crystal and cornelian beads, often marked in hoards with coins, multi-colored glass bracelets, and ovruch slate spindle whorls. These spindle whorls were repeatedly met in hoards along with ingots, and during excavations in Pskov, for example, they were found in a wallet with Western European coins. When V. L. Yanin combined the distribution maps of glass bracelets and slate spindles whorls, and also plotted the boundaries of the monetary circulation area before the Mongol invasion, their detailed coincidence was discovered. Slate spindle whorl could well play the role of a coin. It was impossible to fake it, because the pink slate deposit in Ovruch was the only one in Eastern Europe. In China, according to one of the versions, the spindle became the prototype of the first coins with a square hole.