Studying and Collecting Coins of the Golden Horde in the Russian Empire in the Late 17th – Early 19th Centuries

Introduction. The purpose of the article is to find out the state of Jochi numismatics in the Russian Empire by the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. The novelty of the research. For the first time in one work, the currently known information about the origin of the study of the coins of the Golden Horde in the 18th century is presented. The beginning of systematic coin collecting in Russia was laid by Peter I, who himself was one of the first Russian collectors and collected coins, including “Tatar” (i.e. Golden Horde) coins in his collection. Methods and materials. Numismatics is based on information from a number of human sciences: paleography, chronology, etc. Numismatics is characterized by a complex study of coins and attention to their role in historical processes. The materials for writing the article were mainly publications of the late 17th century – early 19th century, containing information about the coins of the Golden Horde. Analysis. In 1714, the Cabinet of Curiosities – the Kunstkamera – was founded in St. Petersburg. Before the emergence of the Hermitage, it was the Kunstkamera, which had its own Mintskabinet, that was the main numismatic treasury of Russia; coins from its collection later entered the Hermitage. There is evidence that Golden Horde coins were also stored in the Kunstkamera of the 18th century. The origin of private coin collecting in Russia, including Juchid coins (collections of Y.V. Bruce, A.P. Volynsky, P.I. Musin-Pushkin, etc.), belongs to the first half of the 18th century. Readings of inscriptions on coins (and, accordingly, definitions) were often erroneous. Rather, the exception is the activity of the orientalist Georg Jacob Kehr (1692–1740), who was in many ways ahead of the level of science of his time and who, judging by the surviving prints, made many correct definitions. Results. There was no systematic fixation of coin finds in the 18th century; only fragmentary information about the places of coin finds (Bolgar and Selitrennoe settlements, etc.) was preserved. At the same time, the base created in the 18th century (the development of private coin collecting, the Mintskabinet in the Kunstkamera, the activities of G.J. Kehr, etc.) contributed to bringing research to a qualitatively new level in the first half of the 19th century.