The origin of money, usury and credit in Russia. Monetary reforms in Russia Foreign coins in Ancient Russia
The middle of the 16th century is the time of the completion of the unification of Russia and the centralization of power. Ivan IV ascends the throne, later called Ivan the Terrible. But for now, due to the young age of the prince, Elena Glinskaya rules on his behalf - a powerful, intelligent and extremely educated woman for that time.
The main event under her regency was the first monetary reform, and in fact, the reorganization of the entire financial and monetary system of the united Russian principality.
In 1534 minting began new coin, the same for the entire state. From now on, special, heavy, silver coins with the image of a rider with a spear - a penny. The name quickly took root among the people and from now on the term "penny" does not go out of use.
The introduction of the penny, the formation of a new money supply and the removal from use of numerous - circumcised, worn, even fake - old money, which had previously been printed in abundance in each principality, became the main achievement of Elena Glinskaya's monetary reform. It was she who laid the foundation for the modern monetary system and largely predetermined the development of the Russian state. The creation of a single unified monetary system contributed to the unification of the Russian lands and the strengthening of trade relations, both internal and external.
Reform of Alexei Mikhailovich
By 16654, there was a need for a new monetary reform, designed to streamline the circulation of the silver coins in circulation - kopecks, dengs and polushki. With the development of the economy, there was an urgent need for a monetary unit of a larger denomination than the available penny, since large trade transactions were accompanied by a huge number of coins. At the same time, for small transactions, a monetary unit was required that could satisfy the needs of retail trade. The absence of large and small monetary units significantly slowed down the country's economic growth.
There was another reason for the reform. Alexei Mikhailovich continued the unification of the lands of the Eastern Slavs. During his reign, the lands of Ukraine and Belarus were annexed, on the territory of which European coins were used. To complete the unification, it was necessary not only to develop a single course for the ratio of the European coin and the Russian one, but to create a new, unified monetary system.
The first step in the reform was the issuance of the ruble, a new coin reprinted from European thalers. However, the name "ruble" was not fixed for these coins, despite the fact that the word "ruble" was stamped on the reverse side along with the date. Talers in Russia were called "efimki", and this name was firmly entrenched in the new coins of Alexei Mikhailovich.
Along with silver efimkas, a half-fifty appeared in the monetary system, printed on quarters of a thaler. The kopeck still kept its circulation - it was still printed on an elongated and cut silver wire according to the technology of the times of Ivan IV.
The next step in the monetary reform was the issuance of copper coins - fifty dollars, half fifty dollars, hryvnia, altyn and groshevik. The rate of copper money was set by the state forcibly, and their turnover was officially allowed only in the European part of Russia.
However, despite the initially good goal - increasing turnover and developing trade - Alexei Mikhailovich's monetary reform ended very badly. Due to the uncontrolled and immoderate issuance of copper coins, this type of money has actually depreciated. In addition, the artificial limitation of turnover - the treasury was calculated only in copper money, and taxes were collected exclusively in silver - led to the fact that the trade for copper actually stopped.
Coercion to the circulation of copper money by the state turned into popular unrest and riots of starving peasants. In the history of Russia, one of the largest such protests was called the Moscow Copper Riot. As a result, the treasury was forced to withdraw from circulation copper kopecks minted in large quantities, exchanging them for silver.
The history of Russia in the Middle Ages did not leave us any significant information about when the Eastern Slavs got credit, banks, what operations they performed, which was the motive force for their development. We have rather interesting information about the money that circulated in the territory Ancient Russia, usurious activities, but not about banks. Unfortunately, modern history Eastern Slavs accumulated certain material evidence of ancient money circulation, but did not give an answer to what was the role of the simplest credit institutions.
Initially in Ancient Russia, as in everything ancient world, in the position of money were goods that had a steady daily demand and wide circulation precisely because of the utility recognized by all (cattle, furs, skins). Thus, commodity money became the first type of money.
However, the exchange of goods for goods was extremely inconvenient - some compact equivalent was required to replace the bulkiness of barter. Other prerequisites for the emergence of money were:
the transition from a subsistence economy to the production of goods and the exchange of goods;
property isolation of owners and producers of goods.
Historically, the first money, or rather a convenient commodity that had an exchange value in Ancient Russia, were marten tails. Marten fur was accepted as payment for goods almost everywhere in the 9th - 11th centuries.
Then it inevitably became clear that although a variety of goods can be money, the material for money must meet the following requirements: wear resistance, uniformity, divisibility, etc. Therefore, the form of money passes to goods that, by their very nature, are especially suitable for performing the function of a universal equivalent, namely, metals. Historically, this role was initially assigned to iron and copper, and then quickly passed to silver and gold. So, in the 7th - 8th centuries, on the territory of Ancient Russia, iron and copper functioned as money, and then mainly silver.
Noble metals have received the specific function of a universal equivalent because they have the physical properties necessary for a monetary commodity: the uniformity of parts and the absence of differences between all instances of this commodity, divisibility, preservation and transportability.
Metal money originally circulated in the form of ingots. Large Russian merchants in the 8th - 9th centuries certified the weight of metal in ingots with a hallmark. From here, at the end of the 10th century, coins arose in Ancient Russia.
Meanwhile, historically, the first coins that circulated in Russia were the Arab dirhams (the beginning of the 9th century), as well as the Slavic rezans (the end of the 9th century).
Rezana was more like an ingot than a full-fledged coin. The word "reza" comes from the root "rez" in the verb "to cut". Proceeding from this, it is assumed that stumps or trimmings of dirhems widely circulated in Ancient Russia were originally called cut.
In the 10th century, the kuna became the predominant monetary unit in Russia. The name kuna comes from the tails of the marten, which, as we remember, were, along with cattle, the first commodity money of Russia. On the territory of Ancient Russia, the kuna was in circulation until the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century. In the XI century, the content of silver in the kuna corresponded to 1/25 hryvnia (weight unit), in the XII - early XIV centuries. 1/50 hryvnia.
In the middle of the 11th century, the silver hryvnia also became the monetary unit of Ancient Russia, which corresponds to 96 spools of silver or is equivalent to a certain amount of valuable furs and foreign coins. The hryvnia looked like an oblong ingot of silver. Distinguished Kyiv, Novgorod, Chernihiv, etc. hryvnia. The hryvnia of Kievan Rus was minted from silver, looked like a hexagon and was used mainly in relations with Byzantium. The Novgorod hryvnia contained 200 grams of silver. Over time, the coin became more popular, containing 2 times less silver than the hryvnia, i.e. hryvnia, cut in half, or ruble.
By the end of the 11th century, a lot of own and foreign coins were accepted for payment on the territory of Ancient Russia. So, in addition to the kuna itself, the hryvnia, nogata, rezana, and veveritsa (or veksha) were included in the kuna system. In the 11th century, money changers set the following "rate": 1 hryvnia = 20 nogat = 25 kuna = 50 rezan = 100 (150) veverits.
The word "money" appears in the Russian language in the XII - XIII centuries, when, along with Russian coins, the Turkic coin "tenga" was in circulation. This testifies to the close trade ties that existed then between different peoples.
In the XIII - XV centuries. Russia is under the rule of the Mongol-Tatars. The Russian principalities did not directly become part of the Mongol feudal empire and retained local princely power, whose activities were controlled by the Baskaks. The regular exploitation of Russian lands by collecting tribute began after the census of 1257-1259, conducted by the Mongolian "numeraries". There are 14 types of "Horde hardships" known, of which the main ones were: "exit" or "tsar's tribute", trade fees ("myt", "tamka"), transport duties ("pits", "carts"), maintenance of khan's ambassadors ( "food"), various "gifts" and "honors" to the khan to his relatives and associates. Every year, a huge amount of silver left the Russian lands in the form of tribute. "Moscow Exit" was 5 - 7 thousand rubles in silver, "Novgorod Exit" - 1.5 thousand rubles. Large "requests" for military and other needs were periodically collected. Coins are becoming very rare. Russia, for about a century, is slipping into barter.
By 1408, Russia basically got rid of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and stopped paying tribute.
The Mongol-Tatar yoke had deeply regressive consequences for economic development Russian lands. It preserved the feudal nature of the economy for about 240 years and was one of the main reasons for Russia's lagging behind Western European countries in the development of crafts, trade, and money circulation.
Russian silver coin XIV - XVIII centuries. is money. The minting of money began in Moscow at the end of the 14th century under the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy (1380-1389). In the first quarter of the 15th century, more than 20 Russian mints produced money.
Russian money in terms of silver composition was the best European silver coin of the 14th - 15th centuries. Initially, it weighed 0.92 grams and was 1/100 of the Moscow ruble or 1/200 of the provincial Novgorod ruble. The latter, by the way, survived in Western Russia until the 16th century. On one side, the money was usually placed the name of the prince or the name of the city in which the coinage was made, and on the other, various images.
In the 17th and the first quarter of the 18th century, along with the minting of money from silver, its minting from copper began.
And, finally, completing the historical review of ancient Russian money, we note that in Russia the so-called penny money was also in circulation. They got their name from the image of the Grand Duke on horseback, with a spear in his hands, minted on them. The kopeck has been minted since the mid-1930s. 16th century silver. She became a Russian bargaining chip equal to 1/100 of the ruble. In the XVI - XVII centuries. the kopeck was most often called Novgorodka. In 1704, Peter 1 introduced the copper kopeck into circulation.
Until the reform of 1534, the minting of coins was in the hands of private individuals - “Livtsy”, “Serebrennikov”. Then this right was monopolized by the state, and they began to be produced at state-owned factories - mints. During this period, the issue of coins is the exclusive right of sovereign power. Violation of monetary law is now regarded as the gravest crime, not only criminal, but also political. With the formation of a single Russian state (the beginning of the 16th century), a single monetary system developed.
Thus, the historical sequence of change various kinds money in Ancient Russia was as follows: commodity money (cattle, fur), ingots, coins. East Slavic coins gradually replaced Roman, Byzantine, Arab coins and their imitations from circulation.
Coins in Russia appear in connection with the development of commodity-money relations and trade. Unlike goods circulating as an equivalent and ingots of metal, the coin became a universal means of payment, since the quality and weight of the metal in it were certified by the state (state stamp). The issuance of coins was the exclusive right of sovereign power.
Implementation examples banking operations in Russia, as in other countries, the activity of usurers and money changers began. Moneylenders lent money, and money changers exchanged money from different cities and countries. Initially, moneylenders and money changers were concentrated in the capital, port cities of the Black Sea, and then began to expand the scope of their activities in the south and in large Dnieper and Volga cities.
Money changers have become indispensable companions in the implementation of trade operations in markets, fairs, and cities. The fragmentation of the monetary business, the minting of their own coins by the feudal lords and their deterioration, necessitated the frequent exchange of one coin for another. Merchants experienced a special need for the services of money changers when traveling to foreign markets. The exchange and exchange of coins was the starting point for the development of usury. Many money changers, having accumulated large capitals, began to lend money to small producers (artisans, peasants), merchants and nobles.
According to historians, the first usurious loans were extremely expensive. During the time of Yaroslav the Wise, the maximum rate was set at no more than 20% per annum. However, sometimes this rate could increase up to 40% per annum, if the loan was issued for a short time. Punishment for an excessively high percentage, in the form of a crowded flogging, was supposed only if its size reached 60% per annum. Three, four centuries later, usurious credit became even more expensive. Sometimes his rates were simply amazing - reaching up to 300 - 400%.
The motivation for granting and receiving a loan from the Eastern Slavs was completely different from that of other peoples. In the Orthodox faith, lending is encouraged: “Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matt. 5:42). However, usury is prohibited because “...let us lend, expecting nothing” (Luke 6:35). For this reason, or in connection with the special Russian character, but usurious activities in Russia, as a rule, are engaged in Jewish families living here. It was Jewish families who accumulated significant free cash and were ready to use them to their advantage. Jewish families are especially active in usury in places of compact residence, in the south of Russia, in the Black Sea region, major cities around Moscow.
The usurers were the first to understand that the enormous monetary wealth accumulated lies without movement, while it would be possible to obtain significant benefits and benefits from them by giving money for temporary use. In this case, livestock, goods, and in some cases houses, precious things usually acted as collateral.
In Russia, usury developed along with farming - the collection of rent, taxes, taxes, etc. Another typical feature of usurious credit, as we have already noted, is the exceptionally high interest on loans. The level of interest fluctuated between cities and regions within a very wide range - from several tens to hundreds of percent per annum. The highest percentage was in Moscow, more moderate in Novgorod, even lower in Chernigov. Cases of providing usurious loans with payment of 35% per month (420% per year) are known. The nobles paid less for loans - from 30 to 100 percent per annum.
According to some historical data, in the 15th and 16th centuries, credit operations began to be carried out by the largest monasteries, which concentrated significant funds. The accumulation of wealth was largely facilitated by the fact that temples often kept the funds of wealthy citizens, thereby performing the function of banks. Monasteries were a reliable place to store valuables. The thieves who revered the altars did not rob them.
In Russia, in the church environment, there were letters of credit with an appeal for money to the abbot of the monastery. An important feature of letters of credit is that they were a means of obtaining exclusively interest-free loans.
At the end of the 16th century, credit operations in Russia began to be used more widely. Novgorod, White Sea, Volga, Dnieper and Black Sea merchants often gave loans and entered into loan agreements at the fairs common at that time. History has brought us a number of successful evidence of trade at fairs, when Greek, Genoese, Dutch merchants provided South and North Slavic merchants with credit for the period from one fair to another.
We find a number of examples of trade on credit in the activities of Novgorod, Volga and Black Sea merchants. In the 17th century, some of the Russian border trade in wine, grain, cloth, and leather was based on credit.
At the end of the XVII, beginning of the XVIII centuries. Russian merchants, in need of money for turnover, are increasingly turning to more prosperous merchants, including overseas ones, for loans. Some lenders, over time, moved away from trading activities and began to specialize in providing loans. Gradually formed money-changers and usurious clans. The loan business is inherited, and peculiar usurious dynasties arise.
Thus, in Russia, the first credit operations were carried out by individuals, merchants, as well as some monasteries, and merchants and aristocrats resorted to the services of usurers.
The Eastern Slavs borrowed usurious and money-changing technologies at the turn of the 8th - 9th centuries. mostly Greeks and Jews. Banking and credit technologies, several centuries later, were brought with them by the same Greeks and Jews (XVII century), as well as the Germans (XVII century) and somewhat later the French (end of the XVIII century). Probably in this regard, by the 17th century, two usurious-changer groups had formed on the territory of Russia: in the south - Jewish, in the center - German.
The development of money-changing business and usury accelerated the process of formation of the capitalist type of commodity-money relations. Usurious credit led to the ruin of small producers and the formation of large fortunes necessary for the initial accumulation of capital.
Usury capital is the forerunner of loan capital, which is the basis of credit and the principal form of interest-bearing capital. The development of the credit business, the appearance of banks, was directed against usury, since the usurious loan seized the entire surplus product from the borrower and, consequently, the latter could not be systematically used for the purposes of reproduction.
The wide circulation of money, the expansion of trade and usury activities, prepared the conditions for the emergence of banks. However, since banking developed sluggishly, usurious credit in Russia lasted much longer than in other European countries and lasted until the 20th century. Even from the middle of the 19th century, when full-fledged banks began to operate in Russia, usurious credit, for the middle strata of society, was predominant.
Pawnshops rather than banks can be considered the prototypes of future credit institutions in Russia. For the first time, a pawnshop was established in France under Louis XI (1461-1483), by usurers who came from Lombardy (Italy). In the 15th century, pawnshops appeared in Italy, Germany and other countries.
In Russia, these operations were developed much later. In 1733, some pawnshop operations under the pledge of gold and silver things began to be carried out by the Mint. Government pawnshops were opened in 1772 in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Loan operations were accompanied by a pledge of expensive, compact and highly liquid property (usually jewelry) and recorded in special books.
In Russia, the first banks arose under the conditions of the manufacturing stage of capitalism in the form of banking houses, which, unlike usurers, provided credit to industrial and commercial capitalists at a moderate rate of interest. The first banking houses served mostly consumer needs and only in late XVIII, the beginning of the XIX century, there is evidence of the provision of credit to large merchants. Later, from the beginning of the 60s of the XIX century, banking houses were transformed into joint-stock banks.
Thus, a brief historical review leads to the following important conclusions. Metal coins appeared in Russia approximately 1700 years later than in Europe, and for about three centuries the role of money was played by Arab dirhems. Banking among the Eastern Slavs in the Middle Ages did not develop.
The first banks appeared in Russia about three centuries later than in Europe. The impetus for the emergence of banks in Russia, in contrast to Europe, was, first of all, the expansion of usurious activities, and then the spread of monetary transactions and the need for trade. Banks performed a limited range of operations - kept records of bills, provided trade and consumer loans. Therefore, we can say that in matters of the development of the monetary sphere, Russia and Russia followed their own specific path.
The other day I read about scammers in banks in Russia, I decided to read a little more about those times, about how everything was infected. A fairly brief excerpt from the material that I shoveled, on the weekend it may be interesting for anyone to read. Now I understand why we have such a F... And in the banking sector, because it has never been good, i.e. F... And this is the usual state that has existed for centuries))))
I’ll post about scammers in one bank on Sunday evening if I have time, there’s one man who messed up the most, don’t play around.
The first appearance of credit institutions in Russia occurred at the end of the 12th century, in Veliky Novgorod, which had close trade ties with the German merchants. In this era, Novgorod and Pskov were the richest cities, where foreigners felt almost at home, because here everything was like in Hamburg or Lübeck.
Russia learned the basic provisions of Byzantine state law, adopted their organization of monetary transactions (the desire of the state to protect the monopoly in these matters, the regulation of operations and the amount of allowable interest), The right to engage in such a trade was farmed out. Pskov loan law formalized credit transactions on special "boards". Debt obligations were introduced into the money circulation - promissory notes. According to the main legal document - Russkaya Pravda - the protection and procedure for ensuring the property interests of the creditor, the procedure for collecting debt, and types of insolvency were regulated.
In 1665, the Pskov governor A. Ordin-Nashchekin made an attempt to create a loan bank for "little" merchants. Its functions were to be performed by the city government, which acted with the support of large merchants. The lack of a clearly developed plan of activity, the definition of priorities, opposition from the boyars and clerks determined the short-term nature of the actions of this bank.
The development of credit institutions in Russia was long and slow. As a rule, Russian merchants had to take loans from foreign bankers who provided money on truly onerous terms. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, numerous projects were developed to create "banks", but they all remained on paper, even Peter the Great could not cope with this task.
Background and first attempts to create the first banks in Russia (20-30s of the 18th century)
The first attempts to create banking in Russia date back to the end of the 20s and 30s. 18th century, i.e. almost immediately after the death of Peter the Great. In 1733, Empress Anna Ioannovna expanded and streamlined the activities of the Mint in terms of lending by issuing a special decree “On the Rules for Borrowing Money”.
In the Mint it was possible to take out 8% loans secured by precious metals (“ but do not take diamond and other things, as well as villages and yards on bail and for ransom“) in the amount of not more than 75% of the cost for a period of one year with the right to defer redemption up to three years. Of course, only court circles could take such loans; limited circle of people. Some especially influential dignitaries could borrow "on credit" even without collateral. 
Coin office
As a result, the activities of the Mints as banks turned out to be insignificant and functioned on an extremely limited scale, until about 1736. However, the emergence of this kind of activity of the Mint gave a precedent to some state institutions - completely far from finance and credit - to engage in "banking". According to the Senate (1754), similar lending functions were carried out by ... the Post Office, the Main Commissariat (commissary department), the office of artillery and fortification, etc. The size of credit transactions (collateral, terms, interest) remained a secret even for the highest state bodies!
The first real bank of Russia - Dvoryansky (1754-1786)
The true history of banks dates back to the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, when on June 23, 1754, the “Decree on the establishment of the State Loan Bank, on the procedure for issuing money from it and on punishing usurers” was promulgated. The bank consisted of two actually independent parts - the Noble Bank (with offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg) and the “Bank for the Correction at the St. Petersburg Port of Commerce”. The creator and developer of the bank's charter was Petr Ivanovich Shuvalov (1710-1762), a famous Russian statesman and military leader, field marshal, a gifted and energetic person, but suffering from manilovism.
Among the two banks, the most viable was the Noble Bank, which existed until 1860. The bank's clients were the nobles of the empire (landlords) and foreigners who accepted “eternal” citizenship and owned real estate in predetermined regions of Russia (subsequently, the number of clients expanded due to the Baltic, Smolensk, Little Russian and other landowners). 
The authorized capital of the Noble Bank was determined at 750.0 thousand rubles. The main functions of the bank included issuing loans in the amount of 500 to 10,000 rubles. at 6% (the so-called specified percentage) for a period of payment of no more than three years on the security of estates, precious metals, diamonds, stone houses (the bank did not accept deposits). The amount of loans "under the estate" depended on ... the number of peasant souls.
To limit credit, each peasant (soul) was valued at 10 rubles. (although its cost was determined under Elizaveta Petrovna at 30 rubles). Later, the price increased: in 1766 - 20 rubles, in 1786 - 40 rubles, in 1804 - 60 rubles.
The landowners took money, which they did not intend to return. As a result, the authorized capital was repeatedly increased by the government, and by 1786 it amounted to 6 million rubles. Due to the lack of banking specialists in Russia, the correct conduct of accounting affairs was very lame - not only in Dvoryansky, but also in other banks. Therefore, the government had to hire "Germans", i.e. foreigners, and to assign "trainees" to them for training. The state remained the main source of replenishment of deposits.
Initially, the Noble Bank did not accept private deposits, and if it accepted, only as an exception and for 1% of the amount paid to the bank. Now the following rules were established: the bank accepted deposits with the condition of paying 5% per annum. The number of first investors was small (in 1774 there were only 58 contributions) - this is not surprising. As expected, bank offices failed not only to pay interest, but also to issue deposits on demand! The Moscow office of the Noble Bank even had to admit itself insolvent.
The highest government circles expressed concern about the current situation and the bank was asked to separate private deposits from other capitals; deposits were guaranteed by the government. Deposits were given selectively, “ according to seniority, who previously filed an announcement about the return.
The experience of several years of managing the Noble Bank demonstrated the great desire of the landowners to take money, but not give it back. The question arose of replenishing bank capital in addition to state funds, and therefore in 1770 they decided to resort to the practice of accepting deposits.
Bank for the merchants - "Bank for the correction at the St. Petersburg Port of Commerce" (1754-1782)
The government paid priority attention to the nobles, but it could not and did not want to completely ignore the interests of other classes, in particular, the merchants. The merchant class needed strong financial support from the state (as the only source of solid sums of money), in particular, cheap loans.
In 1754, during the reign of Elizaveta Petrovna, on the initiative of the restless Shuvalov, a “Bank for Correction at the St. Petersburg Port of Commerce” was created. Since the bank was state-owned, it was placed under the authority of the Commerce Collegium (hence its name - Commercial).
The business of the bank soon fell into disarray. Firstly, a limited group of merchants used loans (they even began to engage in usurious operations, lending money at interest to poor merchants at the rate of 30%); secondly, most of the clients were “ failing in paying their debts“; thirdly, the meager capital of the bank began to be appropriated by the government for issuing loans to the nobles.
As a result, in 1770 the Commercial Bank ceased operations, but formally existed until 1782, when it was finally liquidated; the remaining funds were transferred to the Noble Bank.
Copper (1758-1763) and Artillery (1760-1763) banks of Russia
When the vast majority of the assets of the Noble Bank was used up, those who wanted to get more, and those who had not yet had time, turned out to be very large. Therefore, to meet their needs, the state (according to the project of the energetic Shuvalov) creates additional banks: in 1758 - “Bank office for the circulation of copper money within Russia” (the so-called Copper Bank) and in 1760 - “Bank of Artillery and Engineering Corps” (the so-called Artillery Bank).
The copper bank (statutory fund - 2 million rubles in copper money) was created to attract silver coins to the treasury. Loans were issued against bills of exchange (the bill of exchange charter appeared as early as 1729) copper coin at the rate of 6%, and should be returned according to the following scheme: 75% in silver, 25% in copper. Loans were issued under the same conditions as the Noble Bank. 
For the first time, a very important provision appears in the charter of the Copper Bank - it was allowed to give money "on a loan for bills" to merchants, merchants, manufacturers and owners of factories (factories). The largest jackpot was hit by Yekaterinburg breeders, who embezzled almost all the capital, surprising even contemporaries with the size of the “credit”. Upon her accession to the throne, Catherine II issued a special decree on the recovery of loans from breeders, but most of the money was never returned.
The Artillery Bank was created with state money, old copper cannons had to be minted into coins and a bank was opened with the created capital. The bank's income was supposed to be used to improve artillery ...
As a result, the story of the previous banks repeated itself - huge amounts were given out to unknown people (the creator of the bank himself, Shuvalov, was the largest client of the bank), it was not possible to return the loans, state funds continued to be embezzled.
In 1763 it was decided to disband both banks. Exactly how many loans were given out and how much money came from the melting down of cannons is still unknown, because accounting was in its infancy. A special Senate commission could not even establish the approximate costs of banks, in particular, Artillery. Moreover, financial fraud occurred during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763)! According to the most conservative estimates, a third of the annual budget of Russia was pumped out of the treasury - through the Copper and Artillery banks - in 8 years!
Assignment banks (1769-1843) of Russia
On January 9, 1769, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Catherine II founded Assignment banks, designed to replenish the constantly needy treasury. As immediate goals, banks were to replace a full-fledged bargaining chip paper money, more convenient for circulation (in Western Europe, banks carried out similar functions in the last century). 
Former FINEK (now St. Petersburg State Economic University) from Sadovaya Street
As a result, the Assignation Bank was a deposit bank, intended for the regulation of paper money circulation, and did not have the right to carry out credit operations.
For the entire reign of Catherine and subsequent rulers, up to the 40s. 19th century the issue of banknotes steadily increased - the printing press was supposed to save Russia. By 1817, the number of banknotes reached a huge figure - about 1 billion rubles!
Together with the final withdrawal from circulation of banknotes and their replacement, according to the manifesto on June 13, 1843, with state credit notes, the State Assignment Bank ceased to exist. On January 1, 1849, bank notes were cancelled.
State loan bank (1786-1860)
In July 1786, by decree of Mother Empress Catherine II the Great, the Bank of Nobility was reorganized into the State Loan Bank.
Loan terms are constantly improving and reach a 20-year repayment period for nobles (recall that the money was originally supposed to be returned within three years). Loans are issued for peasant souls, factory populated estates, stone houses with the calculation of 5% per annum. Every four years, the corresponding part of the estate (subject to repayment of the loan) returned to the full possession of the landowner. The bank was also allowed to carry out deposit operations with a payment of 4.5% on deposits. 
There is now the Institute of Precision Mechanics (ITMO), if it has not been closed
The most outstanding step in this direction was the reform of the monetary system of Russia in 1839-1843, started and carried out during the reign of Nicholas I. The improvement of the monetary system, which had the goal of introducing new principles of its organization, the elimination of depreciated state banknotes from circulation began with the adoption of the Manifesto of 1839 “On structure of the monetary system. The basis of monetary circulation was the silver ruble and the obligatory banknote exchange rate was established: 3 rubles. 50 kop. banknotes = 1 rub. silver. In 1843 banknotes began to be gradually withdrawn from circulation and exchanged at a mandatory rate for credit notes freely exchangeable for silver.
In accordance with it, all transactions in Russia were to be concluded exclusively in silver. Simultaneously with this act, the decree “On the establishment of the Silver Coin Depository at the Commercial Bank” was published. The deposit cash desk accepted deposits in silver coins for safekeeping and issued in return deposit tickets (an analogue of modern electronic cards) for the corresponding amounts. Tickets issued under the vigilant control of the state were 100% provided with a silver equivalent.
The reforms of a century and a half ago became the basis of the mechanism of the monetary system that is being improved to this day.
MONEY, cash account. From ancient times to the 18th century in money circulation in Russia, imported gold and silver were used, since there were no own deposits of precious metals. Among the Slavic tribes, Roman silver denarii of the 1st-3rd centuries were in circulation. Their circulation is associated with the name of the oldest Russian monetary units - "kun" (from Latin cuneus - forged, made of metal; in English and French - coin - stamp). From con. 8th century silver dirhams of the Arab Caliphate were also in circulation.
In the VIII-X centuries. the monetary system of the Old Russian state was formed, the main names of Russian monetary units were fixed. "Hryvnia kuna" (68.22 g of silver) = 25 kunam (Arab dirhams) = 20 nogats (heavier dirhams) = 50 rezams. The name "hryvnia" is associated with the name of a neck ornament made of precious metal - a hoop or necklace made of coins. The name "nogata" (from the Arabic "nagd" - a good, choice coin) arose in connection with the need to distinguish good-quality dirhems from worn ones. In the X century. the acceptance of coins by weight spread, as a result of which they were often cut and broken (hence "cut").
In con. X - early 11th century in the Arab Caliphate, silver deposits were depleted and the flow of dirhams to Russia was sharply reduced. At the same time, the minting of the first Russian coins of gold and silver began - golden coins and silver coins.
In the XI-XII centuries. in the monetary circulation of Russia, especially Northern and North-Western, instead of Arab dirhams, Western European denarii, which were called "kuns", spread. 50 kunas (denarii) were "hryvnia kuna" (a counting concept, such a coin did not exist). In the beginning. 12th century due to "spoilage" (reduction in weight and quality), the use of denarii in international trade has ceased.
Roman coins and their role in the formation of the monetary system in Russia, the oldest banknotes of Russia
The Slavs first learned about the existence of coins long ago, even before the formation of statehood in Russia. Coins from Rome - silver denarii - played an important role in the development of monetary circulation in Ancient Russia. Massively, coins from Rome penetrated the territory of Eastern Europe around the middle of the 2nd century, but this was a short-lived phenomenon. The largest finds of Roman denarii were found on the territory of present-day Ukraine and Belarus, in particular in the district of Kyiv. Such findings confirm that it was at the time ancient rome refers to the time of origin among the Slavs of monetary, weight and exchange concepts.
Since ancient times, it was customary for the Eastern Slavs to use various items in the process of buying and selling goods. Cowrie shells were then widely used as a form of money. Women also wore neck ornaments made of precious metals - hryvnias ("mane" i.e. neck). Such jewelry has always been in demand. For a hryvnia, they usually gave a piece of silver of a specific mass, this one was later called the hryvnia (about 200 grams).
Later, by $VIII-IX$ centuries, direkhms began to appear in Russia - silver coins with Arabic inscriptions. On the territory of Russia they were brought by Arab traders. However, by the $11th century, the influx of silver money from the Arab countries had practically ceased. Coins from Western Europe began to penetrate into the territory of the Slavs. They were called, like Arab money - denarii.
First money in Russia
The monetary system of Ancient Russia was based on the small norms of weights that were used in international trade of that time. It has already been said above about the very first coins used for settlements among the Eastern Slavs. Two factors are recognized that determined the original primary form of the money of Ancient Russia - fur and metal. These include hunting and the development of trade relations with other countries.
- Initially, the furs of valuable animals served as money - squirrel, marten, fox. Hence the name of money - kunas. Monetary units less than the kuna were veksha, rezana, nogata, hryvnia. The concept of "money" appeared in Russia only by the $XIV$ century. Kuns easily replaced money in trading operations. Furs were the main commodity in foreign trade transactions. After establishing strong relations with the Arabs and Byzantium, coins made of precious metals appeared in Russia, after which silver in the form of ingots began to compete with furs in trade operations.
- Later, by $XI-XII$ centuries, gold and silver received the status of money, although settlements in furs were still used. The most expensive monetary unit then was the hryvnia - a metal ingot of a specific shape and mass.
- The appearance of the very first minted coins in Russia is also attributed to the period of the $11th century. The very first mention of this refers to the reign of St. Vladimir. During the excavations, both gold and silver coins of those times were found, but they were not widely used in domestic trade. Nevertheless, the hryvnia remained the main measure of everything.
Approximately in the middle of the $XII$ century, another hryvnia appeared. Now she was not weight, but as a banknote. In the people it was called "new kun". In relation to the old hryvnia, the value was 1:4 or 197 grams.
It is known from sources that the hryvnia and kuna are the main metal monetary units of Ancient Russia. They were used not only in trade operations, but also in the process of collecting tribute.
During the invasion of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the Russian principalities each minted their own coins. The so-called tenga was also in circulation, from where the concept of money later came. In the $13th century, silver bars were cut into pieces, from where the concept of “ruble” came from.
Remark 1
Summarizing all of the above, we can say that the monetary system of Ancient Russia was extremely primitive.
