Grivenniks

[Steve D'Ippolito]

Please feel free to add your own grivenniks to this post. The more the merrier.

 

(Disclaimer: I am the former owner of these coins.)

 

The term grivennik could stand some explanation. When Peter I reformed the Russian coinage, setting it on the basis of 100 kopeks = 1 ruble, he used this term (which as near as I can tell had not been used in non-Ukrainian parts of Russia before) for the 10 kopek piece (which had never been minted before). (See my explanation in the Peter I part of this virtual museum, in the post on small silver coinage.). "Grivna" or "Grivennik" apparently comes from the Ukrainian term for the medieval silver ingots that Russians called "rubles". The Ukrainians use this term to this day for their currency, now that they are independent; however they pronounce the Г as "H" so English transliterations of the term will be something like "Hryvnia"

 

These coins all have the same legend, so I'll translate it up front.

 

Obverse: "BM Elisavet I, Emp[ress] and Autoc[rat] of AllRussia" BM stands for "By the Grace of God"

 

Reverse: "Grivennik" and date. The last coin has IШ, the initials of the mintmaster, Ilya Shagin, below the date).

 

1747 grivennik.

 

 

 

 

1748 grivennik.

 

 

 

 

1752 IШ grivennik