Chapter 107 Real Gold and Silver Currency, a Difficult Problem for Successive Tsars
In the early days of Peter I's reign, the domestic minting industry was still controlled by the large treasury office.
In 1711, most of the powers of the Grand Treasury Office were transferred to the Senate, but the Grand Treasury Office continued to exist and was engaged in coin-related undertakings until 1727, when it completely gave up its position to the General Administration of Mining, which led the mining industry.
In order to manage the mint, the "Coin Management Office" was established under the General Administration of Mining, which was later named the "Coin Management Office".
Starting from the 18th century, the principle of selecting the location of the mint was to be as close as possible to the origin of raw materials. In 1724, the mint was established in St. Petersburg, and the role of the main domestic port was transferred here from Arkhangelsk.
A mint was also started to be established in Yekaterinburg, not far from the Ural copper mines. At first, only round materials were made there, which were later shipped to Moscow, but after 1735, the Yekaterinburg mint began to be fully operational.
In 1724, Peter, who was seriously ill, sent Tatishchev to Sweden to learn coinage technology. After returning home, Tatishchev failed to see Peter the Great for the last time.
The throne was held by Peter's wife, Martha Skaulonskaya, also known as Catherine I. In fact, the country was governed by the Privy Council headed by Alexander Danilovich Munchkov.
.
The Duke was not particularly troubled by the country's coinage. He solved the problem of insufficient silver in the treasury quite simply by reducing the proportion of silver in the coins.
In 1726, the Petersburg Mint issued 10 kopeck hryvnias, in which the content of precious metals was 25%. In order to make these 3/4 copper coins look like silver coins, some coins were added to the coins.
Arsenic added.
During the period of severe Anna Ivanovna, these coins were equivalent to counterfeit coins.
There is another innovation of Duke Menshikov. Although he is not a tsar or a duke, he has his surname engraved on the coins.
In the cunning monogram on the back of the Grivenik copper coin issued in 1726, in addition to the proper monogram "ie" of the emperor, that is, the empress Catherine, Munchkov artificially included himself
The symbol "m".
However, during the Munchkov period, he still tried an innovation that Tatishchev had seen abroad.
What was in use in Sweden at that time were so-called copper sheets, square coins containing a certain amount of metal. This coin showed the rulers a way out of the tiresome search for the silver needed to make coins, and they seized the opportunity.
In order to issue such coins in Yekaterinburg, Munchkov hastily built a special copper sheet factory.
In 1727, the empress died, and Peter I's favorites began to have bad luck. The throne was taken by the young Peter II, the son of Crown Prince Alexei, who was executed during Peter's reign.
The boy did not forget how hard Alexander Danilovich tried very hard to interrogate his father in the prison of the Peter and Paul Fortress; rather, it was the older man who reminded him of this.
As a result, Menshikov was exiled to the remote village of Berezovo, and Peter II established a firm foothold on his grandfather's throne.
The new tsar tried to undo many of his grandfather's innovations, such as moving the capital from Petersburg back to Moscow, but one tradition remained:
That is, he commemorated the coronation ceremony by re-issuing gold coins Chervin.
At this time, a profile of the young Tsar appeared on the coin, and on the back of the coin was the Moscow city emblem with the national emblem as the background.
In 1730, the young monarch died and reigned for less than three years. The country fell into the era of palace coups, and power was obtained not through genetic inheritance but through conspiracy.
The Privy Council, then in power in the country, decided to invite Princess Anna of Courland, granddaughter of Alexey Mikhailovich and daughter of the late Tsar Ivan V, to the throne.
Officials hoped that this woman, so far removed from Russian reality, would be as non-interfering in their affairs as Catherine I was.
But they miscalculated. The new monarch was a very determined and strong-willed man.
The first thing she did after taking the throne was to tear up the so-called "Agreement" with the members of the Privy Council. According to this document, the emperor had only a nominal role.
The new tsar established a secret police with unlimited authority in the country and constantly searched for opponents of imperial power.
In the 1730s, Anna Ivanovna commissioned Tatishchev to inspect all mints in the country and study the differences in weight of coins issued.
A summary of the results is summarized in "A Review of Areas for Improvement in the Minting Industry."
This document mentioned the low fineness of the metal in silver coins, insufficient copper coins, a large number of counterfeit coins flooding the country, and the problem that the gold-silver ratio does not meet European standards.
Based on the results of the audit, a Numismatic Commission was established, of which Tatishchev was also a member. This commission should resolve issues of great importance to the country:
Collect light-weight copper coins and silk kopeks that are still in the hands of residents from circulation, crack down on counterfeiters, improve the quality of silver coins, and process small-denomination coins into large-denomination coins.
In addition, the committee also stipulated a price ratio of gold and silver, which was close to the European 14:1.
The first gold coin minted by Anna Ivanovna after she ascended the throne was the Chervin, which coincided with the coronation ceremony. At this time, a new tradition had been formed in the appearance of Russian coins. The front of the coin was the portrait of the ruler, and the back was national emblem.
On the ceremonial gold coin is an image of St. George the Victorious.
On the 10- and 5-ruble gold coins, in addition to the state emblem, there is also the city emblem of Moscow, as well as the emblems of the kingdoms of Kazan, Siberia and Astrakhan. The original dominance of the silver kopeck in appearance is uniform. Replaced by colorful and diverse coins.
After 1731, the fineness of the silver in coins also began to improve.
After Anna Ivanovna's death in 1740, according to her will, the throne was succeeded by Ivan Antonovich, who was only three months old.
At first, his regent was the empress' favorite Duke Ernst Johann von Billund, and later the young emperor's mother Anna Leopoldovna. The first silver coins with the child's profile appeared in 1741 In the same year, copper-gold ga and porushka were also cast.
The reign of this young emperor was short. In 1741, he and his regent were overthrown by Elizabeth, who inherited Peter I's determination and courage.
The new empress began her reign by issuing gold coins worth 10 rubles and 5 rubles. These coins were called "1 Imperial Coin" and "1/2 Imperial Coin" because the inscription on these coins read "Russian Empire".
Empress Elizabeth and previous rulers faced the same problem with Russian coins:
There are a large number of copper coins that are light in weight and do not match the currency value. The main problem is that the residents continue to keep silk kopecks in their hands.
Just three years ago, before Queen Elizabeth announced the co-rule of the two emperors, she issued an order banning the circulation of small-denomination silver coins, but in the end she had to allow small-denomination silver coins to be used to pay various taxes.
Peter tapped the table, thinking about the huge disparity between Russia's current currency and the thaler exchange ratio, as well as the various domestic currencies containing real gold and silver, with a smile on his lips.