Before the appearance of their coins, Roman denarii, Arab dirhams, and Byzantine solidi were in circulation in Russia. In addition, it was possible to pay off the seller with fur. From all these things, the first Russian coins arose.
Serebryanik
The first coin minted in Russia was called a silversmith. Even before the baptism of Russia, during the reign of Prince Vladimir, it was cast from silver Arab dirhams, in which an acute deficit began to be felt in Russia. Moreover, there were two designs of silversmiths. At first, they copied the image of the Byzantine coins of the solidi: on the obverse there was a prince sitting on the throne, and on the reverse - Pantokrator, i.e. Jesus Christ. Soon silver money underwent a redesign: instead of the face of Christ, the Rurik family sign - a trident - began to be minted on the coins, and a legend was placed around the prince's portrait: "Vladimir is on the table - and this is his silver" ("Vladimir is on the throne, and this is his money").
Zlatnik
Along with the silversmith, Prince Vladimir also minted similar gold coins - gold coins or zolotniks. They were also made in the manner of Byzantine solidi and weighed about four grams. Despite the fact that there were very few of them in number - a little more than a dozen goldsmiths have survived to this day - their name is firmly entrenched in folk sayings and proverbs: the spool is small, but weighty. The spool is small, but they weigh gold, the camel is big, and they carry water. Not share in poods, share by spools. Trouble comes in poods, and goes away with spool valves.
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Hryvnia
At the turn of the 9th - 10th centuries, a completely domestic monetary unit appeared in Russia - the hryvnia. The first hryvnias were weighty bars of silver and gold, which were more a weight standard than money - they could measure the weight of the precious metal. Kiev hryvnias weighed about 160 grams and resembled a hexagonal ingot in shape, while Novgorod hryvnias were a long bar weighing about 200 grams. Moreover, the hryvnia was also in use among the Tatars - on the territory of the Volga region, the "Tatar hryvnia" was known, made in the shape of a boat. The hryvnia got its name from a woman's jewelry - a gold bracelet or hoop, which was worn around the neck - the scruff of the neck or mane.
Veksha
The equivalent of the modern penny in ancient Russia was the veksha. Sometimes it was called a squirrel or a bever. There is a version that, along with the silver coin, there was a tanned winter squirrel skin in circulation, which was its equivalent. Until now, there are disputes around the famous phrase of the chronicler about what the Khazars took as tribute from the glades, northerners and Vyatichi: a coin or a squirrel "from the smoke" (at home). To save up for the hryvnia, an ancient Russian person would need 150 centuries.
Kuna
The eastern dirham was also used in Russian lands. He, and also the European denarius, which was also popular, was called kuna in Russia. There is a version that originally the coon was the skin of a marten, squirrel or fox with a princely brand. But there are other versions associated with the foreign-language origin of the name kuna. For example, among many other peoples who had a Roman denarius in circulation, there is a name consonant with the Russian kuna for the coin, for example, the English coin.
Rezan
The problem of accurate calculation in Russia was solved in its own way. For example, they cut the skin of a marten or other fur-bearing animal, thereby adjusting a piece of fur to a particular value. Such pieces were called cuttings. And since the fur skin and the Arabian dirham were equivalent, the coin was also divided into parts. To this day, halves and even quarters of dirhams are found in ancient Russian hoards, because the Arab coin was too large for small trade transactions.
Nogata
Another small coin was a nogata - it cost about one twentieth of a hryvnia. Its name is usually associated with the Estonian nahat - fur. In all likelihood, the nogata was also originally a fur skin of some animal. It is noteworthy that in the presence of all kinds of small money, they tried to associate each thing with their own money. In "The Lay of Igor's Host", for example, it is said that if Vsevolod were on the throne, then the slave would be the price "for the leg", and the slave - "for the cut."
