The great ruler Stephen the Great, outstanding army commander and diplomat, was also concerned during his life with the economic prosperity of the country, supporting the development of crafts, trade and fairs. During his reign, groși and half groși minted in the dinar system were issued, a monetary system introduced in Moldova during the last reign of Petru Aron (1455-1457).
The coins were minted from silver of superior title, those that reflect stability in the economic life of the country at that time. Their masterful execution at the Suceava mint is among the beautiful artistic achievements during the reign of Stephen the Great.
During his reign, two types of issues were minted, for the two denominations: groși and half groși.
Type I issues have a split shield on the obverse; in the first quarter appears a rose surmounted by a cross and three fascias, in the second quarter. For the epigraph issues (groși), the image is accompanied by the circular legend with the name of the issuer: + STEFANVS VOIEVODA. On the other side appears the bour's head with a star between the horns accompanied by the heraldic furniture - the rose and the contoured crescent, placed to the right and left of the bour's head; circular legend: MOLDAVIE COIN.
On type II coins in the shield on the obverse appears a patriarchal cross (double) and the legend STEFANVSVOIEVOD or abbreviated STEFANVSVOIE. On the reverse, as in type I, the bour's head with heraldic attributes is preserved: rose right/crescent left and crescent right/rose left. A star or rose appears between the ox's horns. The legend accompanying the face with the bour head is MONETAMOLDAVI or abbreviated MONETAMOLDA.
The dating of Stephen the Great's coins is still under discussion. According to one opinion, type I issues were minted between 1457-1476, and type II between 1480/1481-1505 (Octavian Iliescu), and another 1465/1467-1475/1476 for type I and 1476/1479-1497 for type II (Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu).
The coins in this showcase were discovered during the archaeological excavations at Orheiul Vechi (Trebujeni, Orhei district) in the 6th and 7th decades of the 20th century:
1. Type I money issues, groși, silver 2. Type II money issues, groși, silver 3. Type II coin issue, half groși, silver
Representatives of bourgeois elite in Bessarabia: Greek merchant Pantelei Sinadino (1830-1850)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
In this article, the authors put in discussion the issue of Bessarabian bourgeois elite, having as its representative the Greek merchant Pantelei Sinadino presented in archival sources as a Turkish citizen, who since 1829 owned in Chișinău a real estate valued at 50 thousand rubles and was enlisted in the class of first guild merchants in Chisinau.
Commercial capital owned by P. Sinadino reached in 1830s about 2 million rubles and was formed not only through trade and usury. He also owned various commercial and industrial enterprises. In 1836 P. Sinadino owned a wool washhouse in the Visterniceni (or Râșcani) estate located not far from Chișinău, which washed 30,000 poods of wool per year. It was bringing an income of 7,000 rubles.
Despite the fact that P. Sinadino had a great commercial capital, in 1840, following the abolition of trade privileges granted by Guild Regulation of September 26, 1830, he moved to the class of second guild merchants. In this category, with a few interruptions, he remained in the following years. This proves once again that the commercial bourgeoisie sought different ways to enjoy all the privileges granted by the tsarist government, trying to evade duties. So, a merchant could go to a lower guild, and then, after providing new benefits, get back in the first guild.
P. Sinadino increased his capital through the exploitation of small producers, having rented in 1840 a number of localities with huge areas of land - Şerpeni, Pugăceni, Dubasarii Vechi, Corjova, Bilacheva, etc. According to documentary evidence, the peasants of these villages were subjected to various long-lasting and hard drudgeries as well as public corporal punishments.
The case of Greek merchant P. Sinadino shows that foreign bourgeoisie found in Bessarabia extensive field for trading and thanks to privileges granted by Russian government received a real opportunity to accumulate huge commercial capital and to monopolize not only the most important branches of domestic and foreign trade, but also industry, usury, etc. It was a serious obstacle in the process of formation of national commercial bourgeoisie in Bessarabia.
Valentin Tomuleț
The protests and the revindications of the Bessarabian people in the first decades after the annexation of the territories between the Prut and Dniester rivers to Russia (years 1812-1828)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Valentin Tomuleț
Literate mazili and ruptași in Bessarabia in the first half of the 19th century
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Valentin Tomuleț
The establishment and activity of Lancasterian schools in Bessarabia in the 1820s-1840s
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Valentin Tomuleț
Historiographical considerations regarding the status of ruptashi in Bessarabia under Tsarist domination (1812-1847)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Valentin Tomuleț
Peasant unrest in the village of Tabani, Khotyn Uyezd in connection with the agrarian reform of 1868
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVII [XXXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The great ruler Stephen the Great, outstanding army commander and diplomat, was also concerned during his life with the economic prosperity of the country, supporting the development of crafts, trade and fairs. During his reign, groși and half groși minted in the dinar system were issued, a monetary system introduced in Moldova during the last reign of Petru Aron (1455-1457)...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
