The silver kopeck was introduced in 1535 as a result of the monetary reform of
Elena Glinskaya, who was serving as regent for her son
Ivan IV. It was equal in weight to the Novgorodian
denga (
novgorodka) at 0.68–0.69 grams, which had circulated throughout Russia from 1478. From 1535 to 1718, kopeck coins bore the image of a horseman carrying a spear (,
kopyo), hence the name
kopek. In 1610, its weight had fallen to 0.54–0.56 grams, then to 0.48–0.50 grams in 1613, 0.46–0.47 grams in 1626, 0.44–0.46 grams in 1645, and 0.38 grams in 1698. In 1610, during the
Time of Troubles,
Vasily Shuisky's government briefly began minting gold coins, including the kopeck. From 1656 to 1663, the government attempted to replace silver coins with copper coins, which led to their devaluation and ultimately the
Copper Riot. In 1663, the minting of copper coins ceased.
Peter I began minting copper coins again in 1704. The last wired silver coins (
provolochnye kopeyki) were minted in 1718. From 1704 to 1916, the obverse of the kopeck coin usually depicted a
double-headed eagle or a horseman with a spear and the monarch's monogram, while the reverse contained the denomination or an image of a double-headed eagle and the denomination. As a result of the monetary reform of Peter I, the grivennik (10 kopecks) and poltina (50 kopecks) were introduced. Kopeck coins were minted almost annually from the reign of
Catherine II. During the Soviet period, the minting of kopeck coins resumed in 1924, and copper coins were issued. The obverse depicted the
State Emblem of the Soviet Union and the motto "
Workers of the world, unite!", while the reverse showed the denomination. The coins were later minted using
cupronickel,
brass,
copper-nickel,
aluminium-bronze, and
billon. As a result of the Russian monetary reform of 1997, new kopeck coins were minted, returning to the depiction of the horseman with a spear on the obverse and the denomination on the reverse. The kopeck also continued to be used in
Belarus and
Ukraine. ==Gallery==