Kopeck | Akçe: Dual-Denomination Coin of the Crimea

Illustrated Specimen Details: 1 Kopeck and 3 Akçe of the Crimean Khanate

Example Specimen: 1 Kopeck and 3 Akçe, struck in 1780 (Crimean Khanate under Russian Empire protectorate)

Authority and Imagery: The reverse (left) features the central heraldic tamga of the Crimean khans of the Giray dynasty (tarak-tamga, which serves as the traditional coat of arms of the Crimean Tatars), elegantly enclosed within decorative borders. The obverse (right) bears the detailed Arabic legend containing the ruler's name and title, as well as the mint indication. It displays the frozen accession year AH 1191 (the year 1777 in the Islamic Hijri calendar) along with the actual regnal year 4 (corresponding to the year 1780). The entire obverse composition is framed by an ornate wreath of eight leaves and eight flowers. This advanced specimen was produced at the Bakhchysarai Mint using new and highly innovative machinery for that era.

Historical Context: The Crimean Khanate was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783. Established by Hacı I Giray in 1441, it was regarded as the direct heir to the Golden Horde and to Desht-i-Kipchak. During the years from 1478 to 1774, the Crimean Khanate was under the total influence of the Ottoman Empire, being in fact a part of it. From 1774 until the beginning of the reign of Şahin Giray in 1777, the Khanate was independent, after which it came under the protectorate of the Russian Empire. However, already in 1783, Russia completely annexed Crimea.

1. CRIMEAN KHANATE (from 1780 to 1782): kopeck and akçe (a coin with a double denomination)

KOPECK | AKÇE as a coin name

Kopeck and Akçe refers to the copper coins of the Crimean Khanate under the protectorate of the Russian Empire, which from 1780 to 1782 were minted in Caffa (modern Feodosia, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine) and Bakhchysarai (a town in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine) using a revolutionary machine method for Crimea at that time.

In 1774, the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed between the Russian and Ottoman Empires, which proclaimed the independence of the Crimean Khanate from Constantinople. In fact, the khanate fell under the protectorate of St. Petersburg, beginning the gradual absorption of Crimea by the Russian Empire.

The above-mentioned coins were minted during the reign of the last Crimean Khan, Şahin Giray, who from 1779 to 1780 carried out his second monetary reform. This reform was designed to bring together the monetary systems of the until recently Ottoman Crimean Khanate and the Russian Empire. This is how transitional coins appeared, corresponding in weight to Russian coins (kopecks), but essentially remaining akçe (copper coins, while silver coins continued to be issued according to the Ottoman system). Each of these coins bore the date of the first year of the Şahin Giray khanate (1191 AH, which corresponds to 1777 according to the Gregorian calendar), as well as the serial number of the year of the khan's reign, such as the 4th, 5th, or 6th year.

In total, several denominations belong to the coins of the Crimean Khanate under the protectorate of the Russian Empire: a quarter kopeck (polushka), a half kopeck (denga), and 1 kopeck. The 1 kopeck (3 akçe) of Şahin Giray is the most common in numismatic collections. As for the quarter kopeck (polushka) of this type, there is an ongoing debate: it is still unclear whether such a denomination actually existed.

The name of the coin "Kopeck and Akçe" is quite conventional. Crimean coins, the denomination of which modern numismatic sources indicate in a dual format — Russian kopecks and Ottoman akçe — did not actually contain any direct indication of the denomination. They differed only in size and weight. The largest coins of this type, namely 5 kopecks (15 akçe) and 10 kopecks (30 akçe), are separated into separate units called kyrmis and tschal, respectively.

Monetary Context and Significance

A dual-denomination monetary issue reflects the overlap of Russian and Ottoman monetary spheres in the late 18th-century Black Sea region. In the late period of the Crimean Khanate, some coinage and fiscal accounting used parallel denominations (the kopeck of the Russian system and the akçe of the Ottoman system). These appeared as equivalent or dual-labeled value references, rather than two separate coins.

The kopeck belonged to the expanding Russian imperial monetary system where 100 kopecks equaled 1 ruble, while the akçe was the traditional silver base unit of the Ottoman Empire. By the late 18th century, Crimea was under strong Russian political influence but still culturally and economically tied to Ottoman monetary practice. Therefore, a double denomination here indicates value equivalence across two monetary systems, easing trade between Russian-administered and Ottoman-linked markets and acting as transitional or hybrid fiscal accounting in border regions. This coin does not literally contain two currencies, but rather expresses that the coin is accepted as a certain number of kopecks or akçe in parallel systems.

These hybrid denominations are highly important because they show the gradual replacement of Ottoman akçe influence by the Russian ruble system, the economic integration of Crimea into the Russian sphere before the annexation in 1783, and practical bilingual monetary communication in frontier economies.