26 Jul 2017 Coins in a chess piece

The rare coins were discovered five years ago in Moscow. They were in a chess piece. According to experts, they date back to the reign of Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The owner probably hid the coins in the piece to prevent anyone from stealing them.

The treasure has been examined in detail by numismatists and archaeologists. They concluded that the coin dates from the 1630s or 1640s. At that time, Ivan the Terrible, one of Russia's most unknown tsars, was in power. He is considered to be a very capable ruler, and he was also well above average in education. On the other hand, he had a paranoid and cruel nature.

The chess piece was found in Moscow during repairs to a gas pipeline in Prechistenka by a volunteer named Stakanov. Inside the piece were exactly ten coins. The owner could buy, for example, a whole flock of geese for one coin.

Russian archaeologist Alexei Yemelyanov commented on the treasure discovery. "We believe that the coins were hidden in the horse figurine by the former owner. We have not found any other figurines," the archaeologist said.

The coins found were of high value during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, although they were called spears. They were a lower unit of currency not only in Russia, but also in Belarus, Azerbaijan, Transnistria and Ukraine.

It was introduced after the currency reform in the fourteenth century, which was carried out by Ivan the Terrible's mother - Yelena Glinskaya. The coins were named after the spear. On one side is depicted St. George, who is stabbing a viper with a spear. Today, it is the smallest monetary unit in Russia.

Archaeologists were really pleased with the treasure. From the beginning, it was expected that the coin would end up in a local museum...

Sources: www.novinky.cz, www.seznamzpravy.cz, www.wikipedia.org