On December 5, 1763, empress Catherine II issued a decree on the introduction of a new copper coin. This copper coin was intended exclusively for circulation in Siberia. Coins were issued in denominations of polushka (half-denga), denga, kopeck, 2 kopecks, 5 kopecks and 10 kopecks. The Historical and Memorial Museum of the Demidovs presents a Siberian coin with a value of 10 kopecks.
The coins were minted at the Suzun Mint. They were made of copper mined at the Kolyvan-Voskresensk (Altai) mines developed by the Demidovs. Copper for minting coins was a by-product of smelting silver and gold ore, and contained traces of these metals. The obverse side of the Siberian coin contains the monogram of empress Catherine II in a laurel wreath under the crown, and the reverse side — the denomination of the coin and a cartouche with the issue date supported by two sables.
Siberian coins were issued from 1766 to 1781. In the final year, only 10 kopeck coins were minted. In 1763, the Cabinet of Her Imperial Majesty sent a request to the office of the Kolyvan-Voznesensky factories about the possibility of using copper, obtained as a by-product from smelting silver and gold ore, for minting copper coins. The factory office replied that there was enough copper. On December 5, 1763, empress Catherine II issued a decree on the circulation of a new copper coin made at the Kolyvan-Voznesensky factories. Circulation of these coins was limited only to the territory of the Siberian Governorate. The design of the new coins was attached to the decree. Coins of ten-, five- and two-kopeck denominations were provided with the inscription “Kolyvan Copper” along the edge, later this inscription was replaced with the letters “KM” on the obverse side. The Siberian copper coin was in circulation from the city of Tara in the west to Kamchatka in the east and was not recognized in the European part of Russia. On June 7, 1781, a decree was issued on the termination of the coinage of Siberian copper coins and the transition to national dies and a sixteen-ruble monetary standard “without any addition of small particles of gold and silver contained in that copper”. Siberian coins that were minted before the decree remained in circulation.
