Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
January 2020 NYINC Auction 17-18 Jan 2020
View prices realized
An always popular type, these "beard' tokens were instituted by Peter I (The Great) in an attempt to modernize Russian society and become more European. As such, in order for men to wear a beard, it was necessary to pay a tax, thereby ensuring that much of the poor and peasant class would be clean shaven. Only those of means could afford such a luxury, and these tokens were given (and counterstamped as a form of cancellation) in order to show that the recipient had indeed paid their tax and could therefore wear a beard.
Estimate: $2000.00- $2500.00