RUSSIA: Museum in Russia opens collection of one million kopeks

As Russia's Central Bank considers measures to remove kopeks from circulation amid disturbing inflation in the country, the Yaroslavl History and Architecture Museum has opened the largest collection of Russian small change spanning almost four centuries. Museum officials are calling on citizens not to throw out the nearly worthless kopeks, but rather to send them to Yaroslavl. Their request has met with hundreds of offers, and Russians ranging from impoverished pensioners to powerful bankers have contributed to a collection that now totals over one million coins. "We want the public to feel closer to our museum and to help us create the museum of the kopek in Russia,'' said Yelena Ankodinova, director of the Yaroslavl History and Architecture Museum. "It will be a numismatic collection that will not only tell about old coins, but which will also tell about the country's current financial system.'' The more than one million kopeks fill five large trunks, 20 plastic bottles and 20 bank bags. Their aggregate weight is 1,650 kilograms. Officials say this is the largest small change collection in Russia. One hundred kopeks equal one ruble, the prime currency unit in Russia. The kopek is basically worthless, and the only thing it might buy is one napkin at a cafe. Some people don't even take kopeks when they get them as change in the store. "People no longer value kopeks,'' said Nadezhda Khalizayeva, pensioner and kopek donor. "Instead of throwing them out, people should bring them to the museum.'' Yaroslavl, a medieval city about 280 kilometres northwest of Moscow, was a centre of coin minting in the early 17th century. During Russia's Time of Troubles (1598-1613), a time when the country was plagued by civil war and foreign invasion, Yaroslavl made coins for the Russian army. "In 1612, kopeks were minted here in Yaroslavl,'' said Natalia Andreeva, a local banker and kopek donor. "These were very small kopeks which had the image of a knight holding a spear. And on the bottom were two letters: "E'' and "R'' Kopeks, however, go back even further in history. They were first coined in 1534 by Elena Glinskaya, the Lithuanian mother of the four-year old tsar, Ivan the Terrible, when the country was rocked by financial crisis due the debasement of the silver coins then in use. The kopeks current pending demise under President Vladimir Putin is due to his government's inability to control inflation. While the government says that annual inflation is around 8 or 9 percent, many consumers dispute those claims. Price increases of 20 percent and higher are not uncommon for consumer goods, and many Russians are finding it difficult to make ends meet. While Russia's money continues to lose value, thanks to the efforts of the Yaroslavl curators the kopek has found a dignified place to retire to Russian history.

ITN Source | November 6, 2006

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