Definition

• (Plural Grivenki.) A Russian base silver coin of the value of ten Kopecks, or the tenth part of a Ruble. They were struck at Novgorod, Pskof, Kiev, Novotorjok and other mints, the later issues being in copper. They were originally of an oblong or bar form, and about 1701 the circular shape was adopted. The majority of these coins have ten dots or globules on the reverse, indicative of their value.

  The Grif, referred to by Adam Olearius in Travels of the Ambassadors, etc., 1636 (p. 97), is the same coin.

  For an extensive account of the etymology of the name see Chaudoir, Apercu sur les monnaies russes. 1836. (p. 17 et ff). The corresponding double, i.e., the piece of twenty Kopecks, is called Dvougrivenik.

Source

• Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)

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