Counterfeit coins in the Grand Principality of Moscow during the reign of Vasily Dmitrievich

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Abstract

As part of the preparatory work for the catalog of coins of the Grand Principality of Moscow during the reign of Vasily Dmitrievich, the authors collected and classified considerable numismatic material (about 13,000 pieces), divided into two periods. The early period (1389 – с. 1412) includes more than 9,500 coins minted in Moscow and regional centres of the Moscow Principality. From among this number, more than 150 coins were identified as medieval counterfeit («thieves’») money based on a number of features. The article considers peculiarities of their manufacture and presents a typology. For the genuine coins, prototypes were identified which served as reference samples for counterfeiters to fabricate their imitations.

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About the authors

P. G. Gaydukov

Institute of Archaeology of the RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: russianchange@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

I. V. Grishin

Institute of Archaeology of the RAS

Email: robert2t@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

References

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2. Fig. 1. Samples of counterfeit coins of Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich of Moscow. Tracings by I.V. Grishin. Natural size.

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3. Fig. 2. Coins of Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich of Moscow. 2× magnification.

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4. Fig. 3. Counterfeit coins of Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich of Moscow. 2× magnification.

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