Gold coins of Peter I

The need for gold coins began to be felt during the reforms of Peter I. In particular, the silver coin as a unit of account was too small for large transactions with foreign merchants and inconvenient in calculations. The new system and the new coins were supposed to strengthen the absolute monarchy; on a large field of new coins, it became accepted to place the monarch's portrait, the national emblem and the unfolded legend . Also, the increased prestige of Russia demanded a change in the outdated monetary system, which did not cause much trust among foreigners ^[1] . In the course of the monetary reform in circulation, a gold coin appeared as the highest settlement unit. Regular minting of such coins for trading operations was established, at the same time special award gold and silver medals appeared (in the pre-Petrine era, specially minted award coins performed their functions) ^[2] .

Chervontsy

In 1701, a new currency was minted in Russia — the gold piece. It was the first walking gold coin in the history of Russia ^[3] . Its prototype was the European ducat , known in Russia since the 15th century ^[4] . Russian chervonets in its weight (3.458 g) and sample (986th metric) corresponded to the Dutch ducat ^{[5] [6]} . In addition to single chervonets minted so-called. double: for their production they used the same stamp , but with a double blank, respectively, their weight was twice as large ^[7] , but they were extremely rarely minted ^[8] .

Gold mining in the mines in Russia was insignificant, the state strongly promoted the search and development of new gold deposits, but this was not enough and gold had to be bought abroad. The overwhelming amount of gold for remelting into chervonets was bought and imported through the Siberian order from China . Imported gold sand, packed in boxes weighing ³ ⁄ ₄ pounds, became known as “box-shaped” gold ^{[2] [7]} . At the beginning of XVIII in Europe, the pair silver-gold was trading at a ratio of 14-15 to 1, and in Russia in a ratio of 13 to 1 ^[8] . For this reason, it was profitable to export gold from Russia to Europe and sell it there. The export of gold and other precious metals from the country was banned, which did not prevent the industrialization of these foreign merchants. The disadvantage of the course limited the flow of gold from Europe ^[8] . P. Winkler writes, referring to Weber, about the history associated with the legend on Russian coins. Introducing the coin on the model of the European, a minted legend in Slavic was struck on it. Peter was noticed that such a coin would not be accepted abroad, suggesting that the legend be minted in Latin letters on at least one side. The king replied that he would rather “thank the one who will show him the way how to keep the coin in the state, and not the one who teaches how to release it from him as soon as possible” ^[9] . Peter was close to the idea of ​​the originality of the coin and the availability of the inscriptions on it for the Russian people ^[3] . However, the idea of ​​chervonets with a legend in Latin received life in 1716, when chervonets were minted with Latin inscriptions .

Chervontsy of 1710 and 1711 demonstrated the position of Russia as a sea power: four cards were minted on the reverse of such coins in the beaks and paws of the double-headed eagle as a symbol of supremacy on the four seas - the White , Baltic , Caspian and Azov ^[10] . Until 1711, chervonets were minted only at the Kadashevsky Mint , but starting from 1712 they began to mint the Red Mint ^[7] .

All chervonets minted in the period from 1701 to 1718 have a large number of varieties, both significant and smaller, but the main features persist throughout all years of production. The obverse of the coins is invariably decorated with the portrait of Russian Tsar Peter I in profile, the look is always directed to the right, a laurel wreath on the head is a constant attribute. The main space of the reverse coin field is occupied by a double-headed eagle with spread wings, topped with three crowns, in his paws he holds a scepter and a orb . All Petrovsky chervonets had a smooth herd . Despite the fact that already under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich , dates marked with Arabic numerals and some award gold coins were minted in Arabic numerals , dates were marked with Cyrillic letters on the gold coins until 1709 ^[2] . Compositionally, chervontsi resemble an Austrian ducat, where on the obverse is a chest profile portrait of Emperor Leopold I with a circular inscription, and on the reverse is the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire , the double-headed eagle ^[11] .

In the “Coins of Russia” catalog of V. V. Uzdenikov, reference is made to single and double chervonets minted during the periods from 1701 to 1703, in 1706, 1707, 1710–1714 ^[12] , however, A. I. Yukht notices that All the aforementioned Udzenik years have information about coinage. He, referring to the archives of TsGADA , cites data on large volumes of chervonets production before 1718: 1701, 1704, beginning of 1712, end of 1712 - mid-1714. The minting of one gold coin box in 1701 cost the Russian treasury 1 ruble 14 kopecks, in 1704 this figure was about 1 ruble 30 kopecks ^[7] , and in 1712 one ruble of the state treasury cost 1 ruble 90 kopecks ^{[13 ]} .

The peculiarity of chervonets was that it did not have a denomination . The reason for this was the volatility of gold prices at the leading position of silver ^[2] . In circulation, these coins were more expensive than they cost the treasury. The price of chervonets was not fixed, depended on the price of gold and tended to increase. Opinions of researchers regarding the price of chervonets in circulation vary. So economist I. I. Kaufman believed that in the period from 1701 to 1711, the treasury was selling gold coins for 2 rubles 25 kopecks per piece. The phalerist historian V. A. Durov disagreed with Kaufman, considering such a figure too high. The initial price at which the chervonets were supposed to be sent to orders from the mint was 1 ruble 20 kopecks, but in reality this price did not last long and began to grow rapidly, reaching 2 rubles and kopecks. This opinion is confirmed in the work “ The History of Russia ” by V.N. Tatishchev , where the author designates the price of one gold coin in 1713 and 1716 as 2 rubles. Later, attempts by the coinage office and the Senate to inquire about the issue of chervonets in the time of Peter the Great were unsuccessful ^[14] .

With Latin inscriptions

For payments in the journey of Peter across Europe in 1716, chervonets were minted with a portrait of the Tsar, a Russian coat of arms and circular Latin inscriptions. New coins were a demonstration to foreigners of the progress of Russia in coin minting ^[15] . For example, in the "Book of expenditure office sums of 1716" detailed in detail on what money was spent on the king's trip abroad, in particular, chervonets are mentioned. Chervontsy spent on a variety of needs. For example, in the record from the beginning of May: “In Stetina, however, it is given to the mistress, with whom his majesty stood, 3 red hearts; given to the groom by the commandant Stetinsky, who ... brought a horse to ride to his majesty, 2 chervon [nykh]. ” Or May 16: “Franzus Vernezberu will travel to Chervon to [25] to get to Petersburg from Schwerin ^[16] .”

This coin of Peter I remained the only type of Russian gold coin with Latin inscriptions ^[17] . It is known that in the Russian Empire, with intervals from 1735 to 1867, Dutch chervonets with a Latin legend were semi-legally minted. They, among others, paid for representatives of the Romanov dynasty during their travels in Europe ^[18] .

Two rubles

In February 1718, the stop and the sample of gold coins changed. Gold dvuhrublivki 75 th spool sample (781 th metric), with a mass of 4.095 g and a diameter of about 20 mm, replaced the gold coins without a nominal value. By weight, the new coins were close to the spool ^[2] . On the obverse of the coin, an image of an autocrat in profile with laurel wreaths on his head and a circular inscription remained, while the reverse - an image of Christian St. Andrew the First-Called with Andrew's cross and a circular inscription indicating nominal ^{[2] [19]} . Shortly before the Northern War, the king established the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called , and made the flag with the cross of St. Andrew the flag of the Russian fleet. Becoming the patron saint of Russia, shortly before the end of the Northern War, the Apostle Andrew appeared on coins. Such coins began to be called Andreev gold ^[5] or Andreev two-ruble coins.

Apparently, such a step was taken in order to save the missing gold and increase the income of the treasury, as the prices for box gold rose sharply ^[20] . However, such a move was a departure from the European standard and for international trade transactions, ducats were still required, whereas two-ruble coins were more suitable for domestic circulation. Instead of the more expensive Chinese gold, raw material for European dukats, as well as other purchased and “preimochnyh” gold, served as raw material for two-ruble ^[5] . The main source of gold for remelting was duty and other charges (60.7%), the other major source was the purchase of gold (28.8%) ^[5] . In the period from 1719 to 1726, 130993 foreign ducats were sent for remelting, of which 455.88 kg of gold were smelted. During Peter's life, 3,16846 gold two-ruble coins were minted, the sum of which amounted to 633,692 rubles ^[5] . The small scale of the minting of a gold coin caused a relatively small profit of the treasury - 57566 rubles for the years 1718–1726 ^[21] .

The minting of the gold dvuhrublevikov continued under Catherine I and Peter II .

• Winkler, P.P. Coin-making in Russia during the reign of Peter the Great (1696-1725). - St. Petersburg, 1892.
• Gold coins in the history of the Romanov dynasty. Catalog of the exhibition. International Numismatic Club. - M .: Ligva-F, 2017. - 432 p. - ISBN 978-5-91477-038-6 .
• Muravyova, L. A. Peter I , Monetary Reform // Money and Credit. - 2007. - № 1 . - pp . 63-71 . - ISSN 2311-8709 . Archived March 24, 2018.
• Collection of excerpts from archival papers about Peter the Great . - M. , 1872. - T. 2. - p. 9. - 406 [3] p.
• Spassky, IG. When and for what were Dutch ducats minted in St. Petersburg for the first time? // Auxiliary historical disciplines. - 1978. - T. X. - pp . 22-38 .
• Spassky, IG. Reform of Peter I and the development of the Russian monetary system // Russian monetary system. The place and significance of the Russian monetary system in the world monetary economy . - L. , 1962.
• Uzdenikov, V.V. Coins of Russia. 1700-1917. - M: Finance and Statistics, 1986. - 504 p.
• Yukht, A. I. Russian Money from Peter the Great to Alexander I. - M: Finance and Statistics, 1994. - 336 p. - ISBN 5-279-00807-9 .