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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,624 |
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New Member
United States
19 Posts |
Hello all! I'm a bit stumped with this coin. I believe it to be a piece of wire money but cannot figure out if I'm correct or if there are any similar examples. Or if it's wire money at all. Any advice would be helpful! It weighs less than a tenth of a gram.   |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Russian Denga or silver Kopek
Thin slice cut from a length of silver wire.
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Moderator
 United States
34428 Posts |
@pigsandtribbles, yes it looks like Russian wire money to me; however, I don't recognize the design. All of mine have several lines of Cyrillic writing on one side and St. George on the other side. On line, I can see several with that large tilde in your second picture, so maybe your is just so worn that the usual details are missing or else the strike was even more off-center than usual.
If @january1may stops by, he should be able to shed additional light.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5177 Posts |
At "less than a tenth of a gram" I'd guess polushka (rare), late denga (very rare) or extremely late kopek, but it would be a bit underweight for all three.
The weird line on the second photo looks like the line for the start (upper side) of a legend. Sadly I cannot read the letters below it (though I can see enough to say it's probably not a polushka).
I also cannot make sense of the first photo - it looks like too big a part of the horse. (But polushkas tended to have eagles, which this definitely is not.)
My best guess is that the weird line on the right is the date, which would put make this a kopek made between 1700 and 1718-ish (perhaps 1704).
However, I can't seem to find the Kleschinov-Grishin catalog for that period anywhere online (except for a few really shady places), so I can't confirm more specifically (and I checked in the other three volumes, which I did find, and it's probably not that... though I did take the opportunity to identify a few of my own coins - apparently I now have all four recorded kopek types from 1535-1547).
EDIT: I am humbled by @Spence's suggestion that I am some kind of expert in Russian wire money. This is most assuredly not the case - perhaps this forum just doesn't really have anyone who knows it better.
Edited by january1may
01/18/2017 06:47 am
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New Member
 United States
19 Posts |
Thank you for all your help everyone! I agree that it definitely isn't a horse and everyone I've asked agrees that it is a bit underweight. But that would make sense if it's as worn as it is no? I've been trying to identify the picture on the front, there seem to be a couple Cyrillic letters in the top photo but I cannot read them (maybe this photo would help).  |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5177 Posts |
If the letters are what I think they are, that photo's upside down  That said, I'm still not sure what they say (except that it's probably a date). Probable versions are 1704, 1703, 1701, 1713, and 1714, in approximate order of decreasing probability. With the pages from Kleshchinov-Grishin, I could probably give you the correct date in a few minutes; without it I'm forced to guess (which is hard because some of it is off flan). EDIT: didn't find the full die identification, did find a copy of the date identification table. Now I'm pretty sure it's 1702 (I forgot that the B was basically a rectangle at the time). Edited by january1may
01/18/2017 4:57 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5177 Posts |
Found (by complete accident) the die identification page; this one is for 1701-1709. Your coin is definitely somewhere in there (though I can't find the specific match from the upside-down photos). EDIT: if you can't read the dates (and you probably can't), they're 1701 for dies 1-6, 1702 for 7-20, 1703 for 21-23, 1704 for 24-25, 1705 for 26-27, 1706 for 28-30, 1707 for 31-32, 1708 for 33 and 1709 for 34-35. EDIT 2: die 21 looks like the best fit (which would probably make it 1703). Edited by january1may
01/18/2017 5:15 pm
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Moderator
United States
34428 Posts |
Quote:
I am humbled by @Spence's suggestion that I am some kind of expert in Russian wire money. This is most assuredly not the case - perhaps this forum just doesn't really have anyone who knows it better. Looking at your answers and analysis, I'm pretty sure I nailed it.  "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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New Member
United States
19 Posts |
Wow... He definitely nailed it!! It's a very interesting field, I've only had a few of these little guys but they've all been very easily identifiable. Some of these are a bit more puzzling but it's a whole lot of fun figuring it out.
Thank you so much @january1may, I will get a picture of it right side up although I'm already seeing the mane of the horse, it's making a lot more sense now.
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New Member
United States
19 Posts |
Here it is with the date at the bottom :  |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,624 |
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Posted 01/18/2017 06:04 am
