The numismatic collection of the Karasuksky Regional Museum includes a round copper coin, with a face value of a denga, issued in 1741. At this time, the infant Ivan Antonovich Romanov, or Ivan VI, was ruling, although he had not yet been crowned. He was the son of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick and Anna Leopoldovna. He was part of the Brunswick branch of the Romanov dynasty and was the great-grandson Ivan V, who was Peter the Great’s brother. This had put him in line to the throne.
At the beginning, the boy’s regent was Ernst Biron, a favorite of Anna Ivanovna’s, whilst later on it was his mother, Anna Leopoldovna. Ivan Antonovich was deposed by Elizabeth Petrovna, and spent the first half of his life locked in a small cell in the northern village of Kholmogory. When he was sixteen, he was moved to a solitary cell in the Shlisselburg fortress. Eight years later, Ivan’s own armed guards killed him, following another attempt to free the deposed tsar.
Until roughly the end of January 1741, when a new coin design with Ivan VI’s portrait were approved, rubles and fifty-kopek coins continued to be minted with Anna Ivanovna’s portrait, dated with the year 1740. The reason behind this was due to the difficulty in creating a suitable portrait for the two-month old tsar for the new coin design.
Ivan VI’s silver coins were minted with face values of 1 ruble, 50, 25 and 10 kopeks. Furthermore, the silver type used for ten-kopek coins was reduced from 802 to 750. Copper coins remained unchanged from the previous ruler, and were minted with a copper to coin ratio of ten rubles per pood (16.3 kilograms) of copper. Under Ivan VI, the mints in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Yekaterinburg were all operational. The mint in Yekaterinburg only minted copper coins, whilst Moscow and Saint Petersburg minted exclusively in silver.
After Elizabeth I’s accession to the throne, coins with Ivan VI’s portrait were withdrawn from circulation and re-minted into equivalent coins with Elizabeth’s portrait. Following a decree from 31 December 1741, all Russian subjects had to exchange (for their full value) their coins with Ivan VI’s portrait within a year. After this deadline, the exchange rate fell so that Russians could only get 92.5 kopeks per ruble. The rate fell once again, and after June 1745, the coins were withdrawn with nothing in return, and anyone in possession of such a coin could be sent to hard labor as conspirators against the state. It was not at all difficult to exchange coins, as around 60% of the produced coins were still in storage with the treasury, so they were sent immediately to be re-minted.
At the beginning, the boy’s regent was Ernst Biron, a favorite of Anna Ivanovna’s, whilst later on it was his mother, Anna Leopoldovna. Ivan Antonovich was deposed by Elizabeth Petrovna, and spent the first half of his life locked in a small cell in the northern village of Kholmogory. When he was sixteen, he was moved to a solitary cell in the Shlisselburg fortress. Eight years later, Ivan’s own armed guards killed him, following another attempt to free the deposed tsar.
Until roughly the end of January 1741, when a new coin design with Ivan VI’s portrait were approved, rubles and fifty-kopek coins continued to be minted with Anna Ivanovna’s portrait, dated with the year 1740. The reason behind this was due to the difficulty in creating a suitable portrait for the two-month old tsar for the new coin design.
Ivan VI’s silver coins were minted with face values of 1 ruble, 50, 25 and 10 kopeks. Furthermore, the silver type used for ten-kopek coins was reduced from 802 to 750. Copper coins remained unchanged from the previous ruler, and were minted with a copper to coin ratio of ten rubles per pood (16.3 kilograms) of copper. Under Ivan VI, the mints in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Yekaterinburg were all operational. The mint in Yekaterinburg only minted copper coins, whilst Moscow and Saint Petersburg minted exclusively in silver.
After Elizabeth I’s accession to the throne, coins with Ivan VI’s portrait were withdrawn from circulation and re-minted into equivalent coins with Elizabeth’s portrait. Following a decree from 31 December 1741, all Russian subjects had to exchange (for their full value) their coins with Ivan VI’s portrait within a year. After this deadline, the exchange rate fell so that Russians could only get 92.5 kopeks per ruble. The rate fell once again, and after June 1745, the coins were withdrawn with nothing in return, and anyone in possession of such a coin could be sent to hard labor as conspirators against the state. It was not at all difficult to exchange coins, as around 60% of the produced coins were still in storage with the treasury, so they were sent immediately to be re-minted.
