The Coinage Of Ivan III, 1740-1741
IT IS NOT often that a small child becomes ruler of a country but it happens on occasion. King Alfonso XII of Spain died in 1885, a short time before his son and heir Alfonso XIII was born. That child became king the moment of birth but in the Russia of 1740 Ivan III was two months old when he became ruler of that vast empire. He remained on the throne little more than a year and was deposed in a palace coup at the age of 14 months.
The story of Ivan III, in some ways, actually began decades earlier. Russian Czar Fedor had inherited the throne from his father Alexis in 1676 but died childless six years later, leaving two brothers and a sister. The best suited for the post was Peter but there was also Ivan and Sophia to consider. Sophia did not consider the matter all that long, staging a coup of her own and becoming the regent for the new joint rule of Peter and Ivan. It was a puppet régime with Sophia planning to remain in power indefinitely.
In 1689, Peter overthrew Sophia and arranged for her permanent stay at a local convent. Ivan had only limited mental faculties but Peter allowed him to remain
