Russian silver ruble: birth and abolition

Even in the pre-Mongol period, in the XI century, the Kiev princes began to issue coins of their own coinage. We know the money of Svyatopolk, Vladimir I and Yaroslav. The fact is that at that time the tide of foreign coins decreased. But as the need for money increased, the princes began to make their own from the accumulated metal. True, all these coins were issued in small quantities and not for long.

Russian Ruble : the process of birth

It appeared in the XIII century and looked like an elongated bar of silver weighing no more than 200 grams, roughly chopped off the ends. It is known from the annals and birchbark letters. In some sources, the ruble is called chopped hryvnia, and that's why. At first they poured out a narrow elongated ingot of silver, and then with a chisel cut it into pieces - hryvnia. Their weight was within 200 grams. Here these received ingots-hryvnia were called ruble, or simply ruble. Some scientists explain the origin of this word differently. He believes that it originates from the name of the monetary unit of India - "rupees", which in translation means "cattle". This is hardly a true statement.

Spear money

Silver ruble was used to make small coins. For this, the hryvnia was stretched into a wire and divided into pieces. Each of them then flattened and coined coins. In Moscow, from the ruble, it turned out 200 money, and in Novgorod it was 16 more. During the reign of John the Terrible's mother, Helen Glinsky, the princes could no longer independently mint their own coins. A monetary system was formed , one for the entire great state. Coins were now minted in accordance with strict rules. The prototype of the kopecks that were customary for us was the irregular shape of silver money depicting a horseman with a spear. The year of issue on Russian coins began to be staged only from the time of Tsar Feodor Ivanovich.

Russian silver ruble : the mystery of extinction

The study of the history of the world shows that before the appearance of coins, the role of money was played by ingots. And in Russia - on the contrary. For several centuries in the course of time there was money, and suddenly - again ingots. It seems incredible, but true. The further development of this monetary form in Russia was prevented by certain historical events. It turns out that in the XII-XIII centuries the previously united lands again broke up into several principalities. Accordingly, the coinage, the same for the whole country, stopped. As money, silver pieces were used again. The only difference was that now they had a clearly defined weight and shape.

Russian silver ruble : return

Gradually disappeared from circulation and ingots, and efimki. Money in Russia continued to be counted as rubles, but there was no longer a coin as such. The ruble was only a conventional unit of account. At Peter I in circulation there were silver copecks and polkopeyki. Coins, especially small ones, were not enough. The kopeck at that time had such a value that it was not exchanged, but cut into 2-3 parts. Each of them was in circulation independently. By decree of Peter I the Russian silver ruble in the form of a coin was first made in 1704. On one side of it was engraved a portrait of the ruling king and the signature, and on the other - a two-headed eagle and the release date. In 1769, paper promissons were introduced, and the silver ruble ceased to be the main monetary unit. But he did not lose his value as an additional. And in 1840 the banknotes were abolished, and the Russian silver ruble again became the main monetary unit in the country. In this role, he existed until 1897, when as a result of the reform, Witte also abolished it.