Polushka
Polushka
a small Russian coin, first minted in silver in the 15th century. Its value equaled one-half of a Moscow den ga or one-fourth of a Novgorod den’ga. Beginning in 1534, the polushka was the smallest coin of the Muscovite state, valued at one-quarter of a kopek and containing 0.17 g of silver. From 1700 it was the smallest coin in the Russian monetary system and was minted in copper with the inscription polushka, which was changed to “1/4 kopek” in 1867. The coin was last minted in 1916.