IVAN IV THE TERRIBLE - Medieval Russian Empire "Wire Money"

IVAN IV THE TERRIBLE - Medieval Russian Empire "Wire Money" Silver Kopek Coin in Display Box with Certificate of Authenticity - The Advent of Terror & the Secret State Police
- IVAN THE TERRIBLE - The Advent of Terror & the Secret State Police
- One Silver Kopek Coin in Display Box with Story Card & Certificate of Authenticity
- Weight: 0.3 - 0.7 g / Diameter: 9.3 -13.5 mm / Box measures: 4 5/8" x 3 1/2" x 1/2"
- This coin is a genuine silver Kopek coin issued during the reign of Ivan IV, "The Terrible." often referred to as "wire money" because of the method of manufacture
- GUARANTEED GENUINE - COMES WITH CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY
This coin is a genuine silver Kopek coin issued during the reign of Ivan IV, "The Terrible." often referred to as "wire money" because of the method of manufacture.

Late in the year 1564, Ivan suddenly abandoned Moscow for small-town Aleksandrov. He brought with him a clutch of his most trusted boyars, as well as many more soldiers than necessary to guarantee his safety.

Ivan was 34 years old. His wife, Anastasia Romanov died, & he was in the throes of an existential crisis, if not a full-blown mental breakdown. His hair & beard fell out in clumps. His eyes were dim. He looked like a madman.

After a month of self-imposed exile, the tsar sent two letters to the metropolitan, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Moscow. One explained that he wished to abdicate from the throne, because of disloyal boyars & clergy plotting against him. The other letter, decreed that he had no quarrel with the common people-a population which generally adored him, as evidenced by his rosy portrayal in contemporary folklore. Divided between Moscow & Aleksandrov, & hampered by centuries of monarchial tradition, the boyars could not unite against him; instead they begged him to return.

Ivan had two conditions for his reinstatement. First, he would have absolute & unchecked power in rooting out wrongdoers & traitors among the boyars & clergy. Second, to achieve that end, he would create what was effectively a secret state police, called the oprichnina. It was the oprichnina, black-clad men on black horses & instruments of terror, whose gave Ivan the Terrible his sobriquet.

While there have been plenty of historical instances of soldiers rounding up & slaughtering suspected traitors, the oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible was unprecedented in its scope, its reach, its centralized bureaucracy, & its ability to sustain terror for a long period of time. It is the antecedent to modern secret police services like the Gestapo & the KGB.
Country USA
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

IVAN IV THE TERRIBLE - Medieval Russian Empire "Wire Money" Silver Kopek Coin in Display Box with Certificate of Authenticity - The Advent of Terror & the Secret State Police