Grivna

a silver ingot that served as a unit of money and weight in ancient Rus’.

The silver grivna, a unit of weight, was distinguished from the kun (payment) grivna, a monetary and accounting unit. The grivna for weight originally equaled 1 pound of silver (96 zolotniki, where 1 zolotnik = 4.266 g). The monetary kun grivna corresponded to an equivalent in valuable furs or foreign currency. Later it was set to weigh 48 zolotniki. In the second half of the 13th century, another ingot was established that was equal to half the monetary grivna—the ruble, which finally ousted the grivna in the 15th century. In the 16th century, the grivna became a monetary unit of 10 kopeks. Hence the 10-kopek piece today is called a griven-nik.

a metal band (of bronze, iron, silver, or gold) worn on the neck. It first appeared in the Bronze Age. Later, among the Medes and Persians, it was worn by aristocratic men and women. For the Gauls it was originally exclusively an ornament for women, and then exclusively a sign of merit for men who were leaders. Among the Romans, the grivna (torque) served as an award for distinguished performance in battle. The grivna was part of the dress of aristocratic men and women among the Scythians, the Sarmatians, the Kama Thyssagetae, and the Sogdians of Middle Asia. In the Middle Ages it continued to have this significance among the western and eastern Slavs, the Scandinavians, and many tribes of the Volga, Kama, Oka, and Baltic regions. In the 12th through 14th centuries, the grivna was an ornament for women in Rus’ both among the feudal masters and peasants. In the 16th century in Muscovite Rus’, it was still part of the wedding attire of bridegrooms and brides.