Numismatic

(1533-1584) Russia Denga Silver Wire Money Ivan the Terrible NGC

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This silver denga dates to the era of Ivan IV Vasilyevich, the ruler remembered as Ivan the Terrible. Produced between 1533 and 1584, the coin represents a fascinating era of centralization and territorial expansion in medieval Russia. Rather than using traditional round planchets, moneyers of this period crafted these pieces using a distinctive wire-money technique, where silver wire was chopped into small segments and hand-struck with dies. The obverse of this small silver issue depicts a warrior on horseback, wielding a raised sabre. On the reverse, Cyrillic lettering spells out the name of the Tsar. Because of the unusual wire-stripping minting process, each individual denga possesses a highly irregular shape and unique layout, making them captivating artifacts of early Russian monetary history.