A) Monetary reform

The monetary reform was aimed at creating the monetary system that would satisfy political and economic conditions of the new era. This reform began in 1698 and has become one of the first large-scale reforms carried out by Peter the Great. To a certain extent that reform laid the foundation for many other reforms and developments since it regulated rather chaotic and archaic monetary system that existed in Russia in the 17th century and provided an opportunity to increase state income ensuring growing cost of the Northern War. The reform started when the weight of an old silver kopeck was diminished in 1698 and new small copper coins, mites, half-mites and dengi, were introduced into circulation in 1700 [11]. In the course of the reform a flexible system of nominals was introduced. It included golden coins (a 10-roubles coin (“chervonets”), since 1718 a two-roubles coin); siver coins (a rouble coin, half a rouble coin (“poltina”), quarter a rouble coin (“polupoltina”), a 10-copecks coin (“grivennik”), a 3-copecks coin (“altyn”); copper coins (a 5-copecks coin (“pyatak”), a 1-copeck coin (“kopeika”) and fractions of a copeek).After that silver and gold coins of the new design were put into circulation while pre-reform coins continued to be minted in limited numbers until 1718. The correlation between coins made of different metals were strictly defined and for the first time in international practice the basis of the monetary system was the decimal system (1 rouble was equal to 100 kopecks) [5, 543].

Peter the Great paid special attention to the technical improvement of coinage. A coin is one of the major elements of the state power and the quality of its technical and artistic performance has always had an impact on prestige of this or that state abroad. However, the level of coinage in Russia in the XVIIth century was far behind the European level. During his trip to Europe, Peter the Great paid a special visit to the London Mint, where he carefully studied details of the coinage process. And it was then that Peter the Great ordered to purchase spindle presses for stamping coins in Russia.

A significant result of the monetary reform of Peter I in the 18th century became an introduction in Russia to the new cultural custom of rewarding decorative and issuing commemorative medals. During the first period of work of the Kadashevskiy mint, apart from the first gold and silver coins, the first Russian medals were minted. Assimilation of the new European custom was helped by the old Russian tradition of the pre-Peters time to decorate warriors with conferred golden coins. The first decorative medals were minted for the participants in the victorious battles of the Russian army. Searching to inform Europe of the Russian victories, Peter I commissioned a famous medallier from Augsburg F.G.Mueller to create a series of commemorative medals devoted to the defeat of Sweden in the Northern War [12].

The state dominated all forms of industry. It combined creation of its own industry with organization of its own trade mainly to get profit from popular goods inside the country and to import such goods, which could bring money to the state to purchase ships, weapon, raw materials, and equipment for industry.

The monetary reform was aimed at creating the monetary system that would satisfy political and economic conditions of the new era.