We are accustomed to the fact that metal money should be round. However, there was a time when unusual coins were minted in Russia - square ones.
Way out of the crisis
Catherine I, who ascended the throne after the death of Peter the Great, inherited a difficult inheritance. The Northern War, which lasted twenty-one years, left finances in complete disarray. To cover the huge payment deficit, it was necessary to issue lightweight and low-grade silver money, which was called "Menshikov's" - in honor of the all-powerful favorite of the Empress and the de facto ruler of the state, Alexander Menshikov. But the people did not trust this money.
Silver and gold were sorely lacking to produce the required amount of full-weight coins. And then someone from the empress's entourage remembered that copper mining is increasing in the Urals. And he suggested replacing silver coins with copper ones. An example is Sweden, where copper money has been in use since the mid-17th century.
According to the advisers of Catherine I, the issue of a copper coin allowed to reduce government spending on the purchase of expensive silver. In addition, the Ural copper was much cheaper than the Hungarian and Swedish copper bought abroad.
On February 4, 1726, the Empress ordered to start minting a copper coin by a special decree. These coins were of an unusual shape - not round, but square. They are called "boards". Money of this form was minted in the same Sweden. So the experiment was based on foreign experience.
At that time, a huge amount of copper money was circulating in Russia, but almost half of it was counterfeit. New coins were made from pure red copper. This was done by the Yekaterinburg Mint.
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The experiment failed
The weight of the new money was surprising. One square copper ruble weighed 1.6 kg. Poltina - 800 g, half poltina - 400 g, hryvnia (10 kopecks) - 160 g, 5 kopecks -80 g, 1 kopeck -16 g. The main circulation of copper coins-boards was minted in 1726, for a total amount of 38,730 rubles.
Square boards have not caught on. First of all, because of their weight. The new money turned out to be simply not transportable. Imagine: carrying a few rubles with you, each weighing one and a half kilograms. For that kind of money, you need not a wallet, but a bag.
True, the decree on the minting of boards said that they could be exchanged for bills. But the bills did not inspire the slightest confidence among the people.
In general, square heavy coins were not needed by either merchants, or peasants, or service people. The government tried to use coercive measures. And even issued a special decree on the punishment of those who do not want to accept square money for payment. But after a few months it became obvious that the treasury received much less income from the issue of money-payments than from the small round coin being issued at the same time.
They decided to end the experiment. On December 30, 1726, the mint in Yekaterinburg was ordered to stop making square money. The payments left in the hands of the population were exchanged and re-minted into small round money.
Now the square coins of Catherine I are a numismatic rarity and are among the ten most expensive Russian coins.
Oleg SEROV