1 Kopeck – Russian Empire

By 1726, the currency system of the Russian Empire was in a state of severe crisis, a direct legacy of Peter the Great’s ambitious reforms and costly wars. To finance the Great Northern War and his sweeping modernisation projects, Peter had drastically debased the silver coinage, reducing its silver content by nearly half. This was compounded by the introduction of a new copper coinage, minted at a face value far exceeding its intrinsic metal worth, effectively creating a fiduciary currency. While these measures provided short-term fiscal relief, they sowed the seeds of inflation and public distrust, problems that came to a head in the years following Peter’s death in 1725.

The situation deteriorated rapidly under Catherine I, whose government, led by the influential Supreme Privy Council, lacked Peter’s authority and faced empty coffers. In a desperate move to raise revenue, the state in 1726 began the mass minting of a new, extremely debased copper currency—the so-called dengi or "plate money." These were large, square copper plates, stamped with the state emblem, so heavy that a nominal value of 10 rubles required over 32 pounds (approximately 15 kg) of copper. This cumbersome and inherently low-value currency was not intended for practical commerce but was forcibly circulated to pay state expenses, especially to the military and officials, flooding the economy with near-worthless metal.

Consequently, the year 1726 marked a peak of monetary disorder. The simultaneous circulation of old silver coins of varying intrinsic values, lightweight copper coins from Peter’s era, and the new plate money led to a collapse in the monetary system. Inflation soared, market prices became unstable, and silver specie virtually disappeared from circulation, hoarded or used for foreign trade. The public lost faith in the coinage, and the economy suffered from the inefficiency and confusion, creating a pressing financial problem that subsequent rulers would struggle to resolve for decades.