About the Upper Border of the Кyiv Grivnas Usage

Abstract

The problem of the usage of silver payment ingots (Kyiv grivnas) after the Mongol invasion is analyzed in the article. Such silver ingots are dated by the ХІІ — first half of the ХІІІ c., until the invasion of 1239—1240 by majority of authors. However, historical and numismatic facts testify to the important role, which the grivnas of the «Kyiv type» played in the second half of the ХІІІ c. The grivnas of the «Kyiv type» are occasionally among the finds of the beginning of the ХІV c. The weight of most ingots was about 160 g (are kept in the well-known standards — 163,7 g). However, a part of them has the weight of 170—216 g. It was connected with a great extent of rise in price of bread and grain in the middle – second part of the XIII c. The analysis of certain part of grivnas of the «Kyiv type» indicate, that the content of silver in them was very different. Absolute majority of grivnas has high percentage of silver — 900—950/1000. However, the certain part of them has high content of copper and other metals (400 °, 600 °, 750 °, 800 °, 870 °) and also there are present copper grivnas of the «Kyiv type». Part of researchers considers copper grivnas as old or modern false ingots. Several copper grivnas show the presence of silver (4,14 %. 9,80 %). For the grivnas of the «Kyiv type» manufacturing there was used well-quality silver as well alloys with concentrations of copper and other metals. These several grivnas of the «Kyiv type» could be made from billon Byzantine and oriental coins of the XIII c. Copper Byzantine coins of the ХІІ—ХІV c. are fixed in the Eastern Europe among the objects found in hoards and occasionally. A wide distribution of the Byzantine copper coins in Rus gives a testimony to the fact that they intensively were used in the local commerce. Discoveries of copper oriental coins of the middle of the XIII c. have been fixed in Kyiv. Reduction of the silver ingots usage was connected with global catastrophe associated with the invasion of the hordes of Batu Khan and Mongol tribute. However, these facts didn’t cause the complete disappearance of grivnas in the middle of the ХІІІ c. The grivnas of the «Kyiv type» appeared to be the main currency and in the second half of the ХІІІ c. (Mongol tribute, ransoms and etc.) on the certain territory of Eastern Europe.