Становление монетной терминологии в России: "монета"

Abstract

The word “moneta” came into Russian owing to Peter the Great. This tsar sow the word on large European gold and silver coins, and decided that thereby it did guarantee an international recognition for any national currency. Thereafter in Russia for a long time only large denominations were called “monetae”. Just near 1760 the “moneta” has become an unique designation of any monetary unit regardless of its value and origin. Thus, present study offers the answers to the following questions of Russian history: firstly, where from and why the word “moneta” did appear in Russian; and secondly, how and how long the “moneta” and another words and word combinations, which derived from this word held firm in modern terminology. Reconstruction of these terms' evolution relies on the method of written sources analyze. Available documents, where the special concepts and terms are encountered, were divided into three groups corresponding the height of administrative level of the source, which made this document - upper middle or lower. On each of a levels the terminology developed at a different rate, which depended mainly on a personal factor - the presence of a motivated and authoritative specialist in the minting or in the improvement of the monetary relations' theory. In this case, the completion of the formation of each terminological concept is recorded exclusively in the documents of the highest level (emperors, Senate, and government).