Ivan S. Khimich, Svetlana I. Tsembalyuk Counterfeiting in Tyumen from the Seventeenth to the Early Twentieth Century

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of money counterfeiting in Tyumen from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century, when the city became one of the key centres for the sale and circulation of counterfeit coins in Siberia. Drawing on investigative and court records, the article examines the legislative measures adopted in the Russian Empire against counterfeiters and distributors of counterfeit money. It traces the evolution of Russian imperial legislation, from the harsh measures of the Sobornoye Ulozhenie of 1649 and the decrees of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to the provisions of the 1845 Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments and the New Criminal Code of 1903. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of legal terminology, from the term “money-makers” to the established term “counterfeiters”. The article analyses the social composition of the offenders, ranging from streltsy and posad townspeople in the seventeenth century to exiled peasants and petty townspeople in the early twentieth century. It identifies the channels through which counterfeit money was circulated, including trade in livestock and goods, debt repayment, and the payment of state taxes. It also identifies local centres of counterfeit circulation in Tyumen, including Yamskaya Sloboda and the Trading Row, as well as their connections with metallurgical production in the Urals and Siberia. Specific criminal cases — involving the streltsy Ignaty Cherepashkov in 1699, the group led by Dorofei Veselkov in 1721, and Dmitry Fefilov and Sidor Cherepashkov in the 1740s — are used to demonstrate how criminal networks operated. The article also examines the tools and materials used for counterfeiting, including copper, tin, silver and, more rarely, lead and crushed glass, as well as the technologies employed in the production of counterfeit coins. A separate section addresses methodological difficulties arising from the fragmentary nature and loss of archival documents, including losses caused by fires and the deliberate destruction of records in 1919, as well as discrepancies between archival inventories and the actual contents of archival collections. The findings demonstrate the existence of a stable and organised network of counterfeiters in Tyumen that adapted to changing legal and economic conditions. The article makes a significant contribution to the study of the economic history of Siberia, the history of law and the everyday life of the population of Tyumen during the imperial period.

Keywords:

Counterfeiting; counterfeit coins; money-maker; thieves’ money; copper and tin coins; Tyumen; Siberia

For citation:

Ivan S. Khimich, Svetlana I. Tsembalyuk. Counterfeiting in Tyumen from the Seventeenth to the Early Twentieth Century. The Historical Reporter. 2026. Vol. 60. P. 48–87. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2026.2026.60.001

Received 24.11.2025. Revised 14.01.2026. Accepted 26.02.2026.

Ivan S. Khimich

Researcher at the Institute of the Problems of Northern Development, subdivision of the Federal Research Center Tyumen Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Tyumen Scientific Center SB RAS). Tyumen, Russian Federation.

e-mail: mywan@rambler.ru

SPIN-code: 6598-1619

AuthorID: 1316246

Svetlana I. Tsembalyuk

Researcher at the Institute of the Problems of Northern Development, subdivision of the Federal Research Center Tyumen Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Tyumen Scientific Center SB RAS). Tyumen, Russian Federation.

e-mail: svetac80@mail.ru

SPIN-code: 9411-4735

AuthorID: 524548

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