REVISITING THE ATTRIBUTION OF COUNTERMARKS "CHRISMON" ON MEDIEVAL ORIENTAL COINS
We are interested in the countermark “ SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT ” that is known in the eastern copper coins being found, as a rule, in the South-Western Crimea. The fact is that it's very similar to the traditional Christians chrismon (“ SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT ”), through which codified of the first letters of the words Χριστός. Thus, there seems to be reason to believe that there was an independent and economically developed Christian state where it was used the countermarks “ SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT ” at that time in Crimea. However, the material of numismatical study it was found that this designation is not iconic symbol. We believe that it was a sign of the Golden Horde rulers. Attributed to its rulers Qırq Yer. The very same countermark coins can be explained by the small deficit of means of payment in the South-Western Crimea, which was the cause of the termination of economic ties between the regions of the Golden Horde in the last decades of its existence.