Denga

In their earliest form they were imitations of the silver coinage of the khans of the Golden Horde, usually bearing blundered or meaningless legends.

From Dmitry Donskoy's time onward, the coins began to take a more Russian form, with depictions of people, animals and Russian legends, although legends partly in Arabic (the official language of the Horde) persisted on some coins until the time of Ivan III.

The minting of silver dengas seems to have decreased after the 16th century, as they are found less often in hoards, but they are known until the reign of Peter the Great.

In the coinage reform of 1700 they reappeared as much larger copper coins, and mintage continued, off and on, until 1916, just before the Romanov dynasty was overthrown in 1917.

The plural form of denga, den'gi (деньги) has become the usual Russian word for "money".