Monetary reforms in Russia. Monetary system of ancient Russia Foreign coins in Ancient Russia

MONEY, cash account. From ancient times to the 18th century. in monetary circulation in Russia, imported gold and silver were used, since there were no own deposits of precious metals. Among the Slavic tribes, Roman silver denarii of the 1st-3rd centuries were in circulation. Their circulation is associated with the name of the most ancient Russian monetary units - "kun" (from Latin cuneus - forged, made of metal; in English and French - coin - stamp). From the end. VIII century in monetary circulation were also silver dirhams of the Arab Caliphate.
In the VIII-X centuries. the monetary system of the Old Russian state was formed, the main names of Russian monetary units were fixed. "Grivna kun" (68.22 grams of silver) = 25 kunas (Arab dirhams) = 20 nogats (dirhams of heavier weight) = 50 rezanas. The name "hryvnia" is associated with the name of a neck jewelry made of precious metal - a hoop or necklace made of coins. The name "nogata" (from the Arabic "nagd" - a good, selected coin) arose in connection with the need to distinguish benign dirhams from worn out. In the X century. acceptance of coins by weight spread, as a result of which they were often cut and broken (hence "cut").
In the end. X - early. XI centuries in the Arab Caliphate, silver deposits were depleted and the flow of dirhams to Russia was sharply reduced. At the same time, the minting of the first Russian coins of gold and silver began - gold coins and silver coins.
In the XI-XII centuries. in the monetary circulation of Rus, especially in the North and North-West, Western European denarii, which were called "kuns", spread instead of Arab dirhams. 50 kunas (denarii) made up the "gryvna kun" (counting concept, such a coin did not exist). In the beginning. XII century due to "spoilage" (reduction in weight and quality), the use of denarii in international trade ceased.

Roman coins and their role in the formation of the monetary system in Russia, the most ancient banknotes of Russia

The Slavs first learned about the existence of coins long ago, even before the formation of statehood in Russia. Coins from Rome - silver denarii - played an important role in the formation of monetary circulation in Ancient Rus. Coins from Rome entered the territory of Eastern Europe en masse around the middle of the 2nd century, but this was a short-lived phenomenon. The largest finds of Roman denarii were found on the territory of present-day Ukraine and Belarus, in particular in the Kiev region. Such finds confirm that it was the time of the birth of monetary, weight and exchange concepts among the Slavs dates back to the times of Ancient Rome.

Since ancient times, the Eastern Slavs have been using various items in the process of buying and selling goods. Cowrie shells were then widely used as a form of money. Also, women wore neck jewelry made of precious metals - grivnas (“mane” ie neck). Such jewelry has always been in demand. For the hryvnia, they usually gave a piece of silver of a specific mass, this was later called the hryvnia (about 200 grams).

Later, by the $ VIII-IX $ centuries, direhms began to appear in Russia - silver coins with Arabic characters. On the territory of Russia, they were brought by Arab traders. However, by the $ XI $ century, the influx of silver money from Arab countries had practically stopped. Coins from Western Europe began to penetrate into the territory of the Slavs. They were called, like Arab money - denarii.

The first money in Russia

The monetary system of Ancient Russia was based on the small norms of weights that were used in international trade at that time. Above, it was already mentioned about the very first coins used for settlements among the Eastern Slavs. Two factors are recognized that determined the original primary type of money in Ancient Rus - fur and metal. These include hunting and developing trade relations with other countries.

• Initially, furs of valuable animals - squirrel, marten, fox served as money. This is where the name of money came from - kunas. Monetary units less than kuna were veksha, rezana, nogata, hryvnia. The concept of "money" appeared in Russia only by the $ XIV $ century. Coons easily replaced money in commercial transactions. Fur was the main commodity in foreign trade transactions. After the establishment of strong relations with the Arabs and Byzantium, coins made of precious metals appeared in Russia, after which silver in the form of ingots began to compete with furs in trade operations.
• Later, by the $ XI-XII $ centuries, gold and silver received the status of money, although the calculations with furs were still used. The most expensive monetary unit then was the hryvnia - a metal ingot of a specific shape and mass.
• The appearance of the very first minted coins in Russia is also attributed to the period of the $ XI $ century. The earliest mentions of this date back to the reign of St. Vladimir. During the excavations, both gold and silver coins of those times were found, but they were not widely used in domestic trade. Nevertheless, the hryvnia remained the main measure of everything.

Around the middle of the $ XII $ century, a different hryvnia appeared. Now it was not a weight, but as a banknote. People called her "new kun". In relation to the old hryvnia, the value was 1: 4 or 197 grams.

It is known from sources that the hryvnia and the kuna are the main metallic monetary units of Ancient Rus. They were used not only in trade operations, but also in the process of collecting tribute.

During the invasion of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the Russian principalities each minted their own coins. Also, the so-called tenga was in circulation, from where the concept of money came from. Silver bars in the $ XIII $ century were cut into pieces, from where the concept of "ruble" came after.

Remark 1

Summarizing all of the above, we can say that the monetary system of Ancient Russia was extremely primitive.

MONETARY SYSTEM OF ANCIENT RUSSIA, the most ancient money in Russia was called kuns. The name "money" is Tatar, it came into use in Russia only during the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Therefore, we will not find the word “money” in any of the most ancient monuments: in this sense, the word “kuns” is used (in the ancient translation of the Gospel there is “kunolyubtsy”, that is, money-lovers). The name of the kunami value signs came from the fact that at that time the skins of various animals, mainly the skins of martens, served as a bargaining commodity in Russia.

The hryvnia was considered the highest coin unit at that time. Hryvnia called oblong silver bars, slightly longer than a finger and two fingers wide. Only the later hryvnias have come down to us, already somewhat changed and referring to rubles, that is, to the hryvnia cut, hacked; from the real hryvnia, no more than two copies have come down to us. But on the hryvnia, the hallmarks of the princely cities were usually placed. The hryvnia itself meant the weight of metal, gold or silver, and was almost equal to the future pound. At the same time, it meant a coin and was equal to the Greek liter, which weighed 72 spools by our weight, or 68 spools of old weight. There were two types of hryvnia - silver hryvnia and kun hryvnia. The former treated the latter as 1: 4. However, the ratio between them was like 1: 7 or even like 1: 7.5. Consequently, in the beginning, the relationship between the hryvnias was different, and it changed later. In addition, in the same charter, the ratio of the gold hryvnia to the kun hryvnia is determined: namely, the gold hryvnia = 50 hryvnia kun. However, most likely the hryvnia of gold was not a unit of exchange, but directly meant only the weight of gold, while the hryvnia of silver was a current coin. The Volyn Chronicle provides us with proof of this. It says in 1288 that when Vladimir Vsevolodovich, dying, decided to distribute his property to the poor, for this he ordered his silver dishes and vessels to be broken and converted into hryvnias. On the contrary, the kun hryvnia did not mean weight, but only the account, like the current British pounds sterling.

The hryvnias were followed by kuns and cuttings, into which they were usually divided at the expense of the hryvnia, as in our country rubles were divided into hryvnias and kopecks. The attitude of the kuns to the hryvnia was twofold: until the XII century. hryvnia contained 25 kunas, and from the XII century. it already consisted of 50 kuna. As far as can be judged by the treasures that have come down to us (especially in this respect, the Nezhinsky treasure is remarkable, in which there were many different coins dating back to the XII and even the XI century, to the time of Vladimir Monomakh, Svyatopolk-Mikhail, Izyaslav and Yuri Dolgoruky), kunami coins with our fifty-kopeck piece were called, only slightly thinner than it. They consisted of an alloy of several non-valuable metals. Cutting was called the 50th share of the hryvnia. This coin appeared in the Dnieper region only in the XII century. and probably replaced the kuna, the value of which, as we said, had already changed at that time and it was no longer the 25th share of the hryvnia, but the 50th.

After kunas and slashes, there were still legs in the cash account. They related to the cutting, or to the kuna of the 12th century, as 1: 2.5. Consequently, there were 20 nogats in the hryvnia. Beli, or squirrel, according to the then account was the 8th part of the leg or the 160th part of the hryvnia. The smallest coin unit was the so-called. veksha, or faithful; there were 18 of them in the kuna, and 900 in the hryvnia. All this was nothing more than a translation into a coin of the value of the skins of various animals; so, the kuna expressed the value of the fur of a marten, a leg - an unknown animal, probably a sable, a squirrel expressed the value of an ermine fur, and a veksha - the value of a squirrel fur.

It should be noted that the Novgorod money was almost twice as heavy as the grassroots. Therefore, when meeting in any of the Novgorod monuments an indication of a particular coin, one must distinguish by what account it is used in this case, according to Novgorod or grassroots. So, for example, in the Novgorod hryvnia, silver was considered not 4, but 7.5 hryvnia kunas, as it was established by Vladimir Svyatoslavich. Obviously, in Novgorod longer than in other areas of Russia, the old relations of monetary units were kept.

The middle of the 16th century is the time of completion of the unification of Rus and the centralization of power. Ivan IV, later named the Terrible, ascends the throne. But so far, due to the prince's early childhood, Elena Glinskaya, a domineering woman, intelligent and extremely educated for that time, rules on his behalf.

The main event during her regency was the first monetary reform, and in fact, the reorganization of the entire financial and monetary system of the united Russian principality.

In 1534, minting of a new coin, common to the entire state, began. From now on, special, heavy, silver coins with the image of a horseman with a spear - a penny - were made from silver grivnas. The name quickly caught on among the people and from now on the term "penny" does not go out of use.

The introduction of the penny, the formation of a new money supply and the withdrawal from use of numerous - cut off, worn out, even fake - old money, which had been printed in abundance earlier in every principality, became the main achievement of the monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya. It was she who laid the foundation for the modern monetary system and largely predetermined the development of the Russian state. The creation of a single unified monetary system contributed to the unification of the Russian lands and the strengthening of trade relations, both internal and external.

The reform of Alexei Mikhailovich

By 16654, the need for a new monetary reform was ripe, designed to streamline the circulation of the silver coins in circulation - pennies, dengas and polushki. With the development of the economy, an urgent need arose for a monetary unit of a larger denomination than the available penny, since large trade transactions were accompanied by a huge amount of coins. At the same time, small transactions required a currency that could meet the needs of the retail trade. The absence of large and small currency units significantly slowed down the country's economic growth.

There was another reason for the reform. Alexey Mikhailovich continued the unification of the lands of the Eastern Slavs. During his reign, the lands of Ukraine and Belarus were annexed, on the territory of which European coins were used. To complete the unification, it was required not only to develop a unified course of correlation between the European and Russian coins, but to create a new, unified monetary system.

The first step in the reform was the issuance of the ruble, a new coin reprinted from European thalers. However, the name “ruble” did not stick to these coins, despite the fact that the word “ruble” was engraved on the reverse side along with the date. Thalers in Russia were called "efimki", and this name was firmly entrenched in the new coins of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Along with silver efimkas, half-poltina appeared in the monetary system, printed on quarters of a thaler. The penny was still in circulation - it was still printed on an elongated and cut silver wire according to the technology of the times of Ivan IV.

The next step in the monetary reform was the issue of copper coins - fifty, fifty, hryvnia, altyn and penny. The rate of copper money was set by the state forcibly, and their circulation was officially allowed only in the European part of Russia.

However, despite the initially good goal - to increase turnover and develop trade - Alexei Mikhailovich's monetary reform ended in a very pitiable manner. Due to the uncontrolled and immoderate release of copper coins, this kind of money has actually become worthless. In addition, the artificial limitation of turnover - the treasury was calculated only in copper money, and taxes were collected exclusively in silver - led to the fact that trade for copper actually ceased.

Coercion to the circulation of copper money by the state turned into popular unrest and riots of starving peasants. In the history of Russia, one of the largest such protests was called the Moscow Copper Riot. As a result, the treasury was forced to withdraw from circulation the copper kopecks minted in huge quantities, exchanging them for silver.