The coin from the period of Time of Troubles displayed in the Museum of Moscow cannot be considered rare, but, like all antiquities, it has many interesting stories to tell.

The obverse of the coin shows a horseman with a spear. Behind him his cloak is fluttering, and under his horse there is a sign of the Moscow Mint. Coins of this period were also minted in Pskov and Novgorod.

The legend on the reverse side of the coin dates back to the reign of False Dmitry I: the coin features the name of the Tsar and Grand Duke Dmitry Ioannovich misappropriated by him. For minting the coins with False Dmitry I, a new mint back was specially made in Moscow, but the templates with the rider were the old model from the time of Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov. This was convenient both for the operation of the mint and for the introduction of new coins into circulation. However, references to Godunov were removed from Boris Godunov’s coins, as the new ruler was an opponent of his policies and sought to restore the order of his “father” — Ivan the Terrible. The kopecks were in circulation even after the overthrow of False Dmitry I in 1606 and went out of circulation only during the reign of Mikhail Fyodorovich, when the value of the coins of this denomination began to decrease. Despite the fact that the reign of False Dmitry I was brief, during this period a huge number of coins was issued, mainly for the payment of public debts.

Uneven edges and shape of the coins are typical of wire coins of the 14th–18th centuries. They were also called scales and made of silver. Craftsmen cut the precious metal wire into pieces, flattened them and minted them with stamps. The cut pieces were roughly equal in weight within their denomination. The whole process of coin minting was done manually. Each stage of the work was handled by a different worker. For example, the drawers stretched the metal to produce wire, the placers laid the blanks for the minters, and so on. It is no wonder, the coins were oblong in shape and a fragment was imprinted from the image on the stamp.