How Lomonosov received a prize of 2 tons

In 1741 the Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of the great reformer Peter the Great, joined the Russian throne. And after 7 years, the famous Russian scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov wrote an ode dedicated to Elizabeth, in which he praised the ruler and expressed confidence that her period of government would be no less famous than the times of Peter.
Flattered by such praise from Lomonosov, Elizabeth gave him a truly royal gift - 2,000 rubles, which for the middle of the eighteenth century was a huge sum. For example, a pood of wheat at that time cost 64 kopecks. But, the whole point is that in the days of Elizabeth it was not yet customary to use paper banknotes, they appeared in Russia only in 20 years, therefore, the literary fee Lomonosov received copper money.

At that time, one ruble accounted for approximately 900 grams of copper coins, therefore, the weight of the Lomonosov prize was no less impressive than the royal mercy itself - 1,800 kg. Almost two tons. Therefore, the scientist had a problem - how to take home this, literally, a huge amount of money? I had to take a few trips to deliver the cargo to Vasilievsky Island, where he lived then.

By the way, in the seventies, already under Catherine II, tried to produce copper rubles, called "sisters" since they were made at the Sestroretsk Mint. But, such a novelty could not cause delight in the country, since the weight of one such "coin" was from 888 to 1024 and had a diameter of 76 mm. Wearing them in your pocket was problematic! But there was clearly not enough gold and silver in the country, to set up a mass production of coins made of precious metals.

It is not surprising that on December 29, 1768, Catherine II issued the Manifesto according to which paper promissons were introduced in Russia in order to replace uncomfortable copper money with light bills. True, these notes were, rather, bank receipts: anyone could exchange them for coins made of metal, the state at first strictly followed that all those in circulation, bills were provided with a ringing coin, as they called metal money.

Gradually, paper notes were kept less and less supported by precious metals,
which caused their depreciation. But the Sestroretsky ruble not only preserved, but also significantly multiplied its value: a few years ago one of the surviving copies was auctioned for 50,000 Swiss francs.