CHETVERETSA: COIN OF RUSSIA
Chetveretsa, 1533-1584: Tsardom of Russia (Tsardom of Muscovy)
Opinions are divided regarding the name of the denomination of this coin: some sources call it chetveretsa (like me), while others indicate the name as polushka.
Ruler: Ivan IV Vasilyevich (Ivan the Terrible or Ivan Grozny) — the grand prince of Moscow and the first Moscow ruler who declared himself tsar of all Russia.
Primitive image of a bird of unknown species, possibly a pigeon (my version).
Interestingly, the obverse of this coin (the bird or so-called "птичка" in Russian) is depicted on a 1989 Soviet silver 3-ruble commemorative coin — 500th Anniversary of the United Russian State (First All-Russian Coinage).
A very strangely designed ornament of Cyrillic letters, from which the word "ГОСУДАРЬ/ГОСДАРЬ" can be formed, which can be translated as Sovereign or Majesty (title of the ruler: Государь всея Руси — Sovereign of all Russia).
There is information that this coin was issued not only by Ivan IV Vasilyevich, but also by his father — Vasili III Ivanovich. The mints of both Moscow and Tver are also indicated.
A very small (the smallest in my collection) old coin with losses... unfortunately...
- Silver: 8 mm - 0.12 g
- Reference price: 15$
COIN CHETVERETSA — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- PRINCIPALITIES OF NORTH-EASTERN RUS' (nowadays Russia) + TSARDOM OF RUSSIA, 15th-16th centuries: chetveretsa = 1/4 denga
CHETVERETSA as coin name.
Chetveretsa — smallest russian silver coin in history. It was mainly issued during the 15th-16th centuries by specific principalities on the territory of modern russia and weighed about 0.15 grams. It was the cheapest denomination and was essentially 1/4 denga.
This concludes the more or less confirmed facts... Further, only assumptions that differ in different historical sources even in russia itself.
1721 is considered the date of the formation of the russian empire. The system of denominations of russian coins at that time was finally formed and looked like this: 1 ruble = 2 poltina = 4 polupoltinnik = 10 grivennik = 100 kopeck = 200 denga = 400 polushka.
However, before that, in the russian lands (which until the 13th century were the northern outskirts of the great Kyivan Rus' with its center in the capital of modern Ukraine, the city of Kyiv) a rather complicated and incomprehensible monetary (coins) system was used...
For example, if you try to analyze the issue of the lowest denomination of Russian coins of the 15th-16th centuries, then russian historical scientific works mention a palette of names instead of a single one — polushka, half-denga, chetveretsa... All of them, it would seem, should be equal in value and be 1/4 of a kopeck.
I will note right away that there is an assumption that half-denga is an old colloquial name. As for the relationship between chetveretsa and polushka, these two terms are often used in catalogs to denote the same coins. One gets the impression of their equivalence, or rather, heredity — you can find the opinion that polushka replaced the chetveretsa coin. I will allow myself to disagree.
Let us recall that in the times before the appearance of the kopeck denomination, the Moscow denga and the twice as expensive Novgorod denga coexisted in parallel (which was later transformed into a new denomination — the kopeck).
Now let's turn to etymology: the name of the coin chetveretsa comes from the Russian term, which indicates the equality of 4 or, more appropriately in this case, 1/4 (in essence, something similar to the familiar concept of quarter). In turn, the polushka has its name from the term, which unambiguously indicates the equality of 1/2. That is, chetveretsa = 1/4 denga while the polushka = 1/2 denga (after all, the denga was the main coin at that time, the kopeck appeared later).
The main problem with these two denominations: which denga is being discussed in this context — the Novgorod (i.e., the future kopeck from 1535) or the half-cheaper Moscow one... in this aspect lies the understanding of the connection between these coin names. There is quite clear evidence that the polushka was half of the Moscow denga (as a result, after the introduction of the kopeck, this denomination became equal to 1/4 of it). But with chetveretsa it is not so obvious and clear...
I never managed to finally understand this issue. For myself, I personally decided (but that's not accurate) that the one polushka was equal to two chetveretsa coins. But here's the problem: in the same 16th century, denga and only a silver coin that was half as light (whatever it was called — chetveretsa or polushka) were issued... there was no coin that was four times lighter. But the catalogs attribute both coins with the name chetveretsa and polushka to this period.
One could also suggest the following version: a polushka was half of a Moscow denga, while a chetveretsa was a quarter of a twice as expensive Novgorod denga. That is, these two coins could have been equal in value.
At the same time, some numismatic sources have chosen a different tactic: starting from Peter I (from the beginning of the 18th century) they consider half-denga coins as polushka, while until the beginning of the 17th century they are called chetveretsa. During the 17th century, the smallest denomination was denga (due to the depreciation of Russian coins, the need for a smaller denomination disappeared during this period).
Obviously, there is an error somewhere in the above statements. Be that as it may, the denomination of chetveretsa is definitely considered as an independent unit. It is difficult to say how to correctly indicate the value of this coin relative to others, but I will venture to assume that chetveretsa = 1/2 polushka = 1/4 denga = 1/8 kopeck (or a safer simplified statement: chetveretsa = 1/4 denga). By the way, once, namely in 1700, a polupolushka (1/2 polushka) coin was issued, which can theoretically be considered a successor and analogue of chetveretsa.
