Mordovka (Russian: мордовка) was a historical Russian currency that circulated in Volga Region in 15-18th centuries. It was found in hoards in Volga Region and Middle Asia.[1]

Etymology

The term mordovka (Russian: мордовка lit.'Mordvin woman') is in use since 19th century among Russian numismatists for all similar coins or tokens found in Volga region.

History

Russian ethnographer Bogdan Zaikovsky had been collecting this kind coins for more than 30 years and divided his corpus in two classes he called Type A and type B. Type B coins or tokens were made of different alloys and used mostly in Moksha women traditional costumes as decoration. Zaikovsky notes that even he himself knows one of the places where this kind of craft was produced (Traka village). He points at the fact that Tatar, Kyrgyz or Russian women never use them as decoration. Moreover, a legend exists they were money in old times. Interesting that he notes the coins are called mordvki or mortki when mordka was a term for Old Russian coin equal to 1⁄400 of a ruble which as he comments "never existed". He never received a positive reaction from Russian numismatists as they all believed these coins are just decoration tokens or "Post-Peter kopecks imitations". They hadn't share Zaikovsky's enthusiasm regarding his findings since they just did not believe the mere idea that Mordvins considered illiterate village folk could ever have their own money. He lists hidden treasure cites with buckets of mordovkas found and attract numismatists communinity's attention to the problem of the existing early monetary systems in Volga region and coins authenticity.[2][3]

Type A coins

Zaikovskiy's picture of the mordovka type A with inscription in Old Moksha language
Mordovka coin A Type. Inscription in Old Erzya language

Type A are minted of silver and look like authentic coins. They have readable inscriptions. Saratov State University scholar Iosif Cherapkin, expert in Moksha language, had examined type A coins and confirmed their authenticity. Inscription resembled Cyrillc without soft signs and was readable in Old (Middle) Moksha and says 'It circulates as 1/2 of gold'.[4]

Cherapkin's Inscription

Inscription (Middle Moksha) ΜΟΛИ ΑΗСИ ΟΚΑΗ ΠЄΛΚИ
Transcription moli ansi okan pelki
Interpretation (Moksha) Моли аньцек окань пяли
Translation Goes only for half gold

Cherapkin's inscription on the coins as had been attested is written in Old or precisely Middle Moksha [5] in Greek uncial script with digamma 'ͷ' or an unknown variant of Cyrillic without soft signs.[6] Three of the four word forms are older that those attested in Nicolaes Witsen's Dutch-Moksha dictionary issued in 1692[7] The word пелки is attested in Old Khanty language пелки (pelki) 'half' in a given name which is nowadays considered archaic and the word consequently is obsolete.[8] The contemporary Khanty term is "пелəк (pelək)" half.[9] Another inscription on a mordovka was in Old Erzya in the same script with the similar meaning.[10]

Triangle Moksha coins

Zavariukhin describes as well 22x23 mm size triangle form silver coins with obverse featured a woman's bust.[11][12] Those coins first were described by Vladimir Aunovsky in 1869, he reports they are used in traditional Moksha woman's headdress decoration and they say that was their queen depiction, meaning princess Narchat.[13]

Bracteates

Evgeny Arsiukhin describes his collection from Chuvashia and divides his corpus into complex 1 and complex 2. Complex 1 is a 2001 hidden treasure assemblage found in Chuvashia includes mordovkas and Ruthenian coins. Complex 2 is a collection of coins from old Chuvashian tukhya used before as a decoration. Complex 1 with Ф-tamga include a bracteate with "Cyrillic inscription in 18th century manner". Spassky previously pointed out at huge amount of false coins in Muscovy mint[14] but this type bracteate seems to be formed much earlier, between 1547 and 1565.[15]

See also

Sources

  • Feoktistov, Aleksandr; Saarinen, Sirkka (2005), Mokšamordvan murteet [Dialects of Moksha Mordvin], Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran toimituksia (in Finnish), Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, ISBN 952-5150-86-0
  • Zverev S.V. Printsipy formirovania tipov podrazhatelnykh monet Kazanskogo khanstva. Ob izobrazheniyakh na mordovkakh. Sovetsky kollektsioner. Moscow, 1991. No 28
  • Nesterov I. V. Mordovki - padcheritsy russkoy monetnoy sistemy. Faizkhanovskiye chtenia. Materials of 5th annual scientific and practical conference. Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, 2009
  • Mashkov V.V. Monety vostochno-slavianskogo prigranichya. Yekaterinburg, SV-96, 1998, pp. 234–235

References

  1. ↑ Pachkalov A. V. Svod monetnykh nakhodok na territorii Volgogradskoy oblasti. Voprosy istorii i arkheologii Zapadnogo Kazakhstana [Coin assemblages from Volgograd Oblast. West Kazakhstan history and archeology review]. Issue No 1/2010. Uralsk, 2010, pp. 147—190.
  2. ↑ Bogdan Zaikovsky. K voprosu o mordovkakh. Trudy Nizhne-Volzhskogo oblastnogo nauchnogo obschestva krayevedenia [Back To Mordovkas Problem. Nizhne-Volzhskaya Oblast scientific and historical society review]. Issue No 36, Part 1. Saratov, 1929
  3. ↑ Dmitry Butrin. Tokens, Mordovkas, Vodka And Other Money Substitutes. Money History Course. Arzamas Academy
  4. ↑ Bogdan Zaikovsky. K voprosu o mordovkakh. Trudy Nizhne-Volzhskogo oblastnogo nauchnogo obschestva krayevedenia [Back To Mordovkas Problem. Nizhne-Volzhskaya Oblast scientific and historical society review]. Issue No 36, Part 1. Saratov, 1929
  5. ↑ Feoktistov & Saarinen 2005.
  6. ↑ Bogdan Zaikovsky. K voprosu o mordovkakh. Trudy Nizhne-Volzhskogo oblastnogo nauchnogo obschestva krayevedenia [Back To Mordovkas Problem. Nizhne-Volzhskaya Oblast scientific and historical society review]. Issue No 36, Part 1. Saratov, 1929
  7. ↑ Nikolaes Witsen's Dutch-Moksha Dictionary
  8. ↑ Names of The World. Khanty and Mansi Names
  9. ↑ Valgamova S.I., Koshkaryova N.B., Onina S.V., Shiyanova A.A. Dialectal Dictionary of Khanty Language, Yekaternburg, 2011
  10. ↑ Bogdan Zaikovsky. K voprosu o mordovkakh. Trudy Nizhne-Volzhskogo oblastnogo nauchnogo obschestva krayevedenia [Back To Mordovkas Problem. Nizhne-Volzhskaya Oblast scientific and historical society review]. Issue No 36, Part 1. Saratov, 1929
  11. ↑ Viacheslav Zavariukhin. Pamiatniki numizmatiki i bonistiki v regionalnom istoriko-kulturnom protsesse. Dissertation thesis, 2006
  12. ↑ Dmitry Butrin. Tokens, Mordovkas, Vodka And Other Money Substitutes. Money History Course. Arzamas Academy
  13. ↑ Vladimir Aunovsky. Ethnograpical Essay on Mordva-Moksha. Memorial book of Simbirsk gubernia in 1869, Simbirsk, 1869, pp. 85-108
  14. ↑ Spassky I.G. Denezhnoye obrascheniye na territotii Povolzhya v 1-oy polovine XVI veka i tak nazyvayemaye mordovki. Sovetskaya arkheologia [Monetary circulation in Volga region territory in 1st half of 16th century and so-called mordovkas], 1954, Vol. XXI, pp. 190-191
  15. ↑ Evgeny Arsiukhin. On So-called Mordovkas With Ф-tamga. 2002
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