Copper Riot - The Beginning

The Beginning

The riot was preceded by a gradual deterioration of the Russian economy due to the Second Northern War with Poland and Sweden and sharp rise in taxes. In 1654, the Russian government decided to begin issuing copper money in large quantities, equating them with silver money. This government measure caused the devaluation of copper money, which, in turn, would provoke profiteering on top priority goods and mass production of counterfeit copper money with the involvement of some top officials. By 1662, Russia had already been experiencing an acute financial crisis.

A few days before the riot, there had already been rumors about the so-called vorovskiye listki (воровские листки, or black lists), which contained the names of those responsible for economic misfortunes. These lists would suddenly appear posted in several neighborhoods of Moscow on the night of July 25. They included the names of the "traitors", such as boyars Miloslavsky, okolnichys Fyodor Rtishchev and Bogdan Khitrovo, diak D.M. Bashmakov, merchants V.G. Shorin, S. Zadorin and others. All these people were accused of causing economic collapse after the introduction of copper money and having secret ties with Catholic Poland.