A polushka (Russian: полушка, "half [of a denga]") was a Russian coin with value equal to 14 kopeck (100 kopecks = 1 rouble).

Silver polushka (poludenga) of Ivan the Terrible, minted in Veliky Novgorod in 1535–1584. Weight 0.15 g.

Production of polushkas as minted coins began in 1700 under Peter the Great, though more primitive hammered wire money polushkas[1] had been produced for over 150 years before that. Mintage continued, off and on, until 1916, just before the Romanov dynasty was overthrown in 1917.

While coins minted in the 18th century invariably showed the denomination as polushka, during parts of the 19th and early 20th centuries the denomination was shown as simply 14 kopeck.

Dates when Minted

edit
 
Obverse of a rare 1700 polushka. The legend around the eagle reads "ЦРЬ ПЕТР АЛЕКСЕЕВИЧ" or Tsar Petr Alekseevich (Peter the Great)
 
1795 Polushka minted under Catherine II (Catherine the Great)

See also

edit

References

edit