Penyaz - anonimous БЕ ПОСОБИ/God Help 1396-1399

By the mid-1390s, when Vladimir Olgerdovich was displaced from his position as Prince of Kyiv by Vytautas (Vitovt), at least two monetary reforms had apparently taken place in Kyiv, causing the weight of the penyaz to drop to 0.30–0.35 grams.

Recently, a new type of Kyivan coins was discovered, featuring the legend Б҃Е ПОСОБИ (God Help / Mother of God, Help). The lingering debates regarding the potential forgery of these coins seem to have been definitively resolved by new finds of a significant number of specimens minted from different dies. An innovation in their manufacturing technology was introduced—some of the coins were clipped into a circle using shears. We date these coins to the late 14th century. Their weight of 0.38–0.48 grams is fairly well-sustained and aligns with the weight of Vilnius coins from the same period.

The name of the disgraced prince on the coin was replaced by the legend Б҃Е ПОСОБИ (God Help / Mother of God, Help), which also indicates that the coins were issued after the removal of Vladimir Olgerdovich. It is possible that these penyazes (coins) could have been minted to finance the campaign to restore Tokhtamysh to the throne of the Jochid state (Golden Horde), which is why an appropriate slogan was chosen. The invocation of the Mother of God is also understandable—it is known that the hymn of the same name was performed before battles by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, playing, in modern terms, the role of a national anthem. After the issuance of these penyazes, the minting of coins in the Principality of Kyiv was discontinued.

According to the catalog Dzmitry Huletski (Дмитрий Гулецкий, Дзмітры Гулецкі), Konstantin Petrunin (Константин Петрунин) - Russian Medieval Coins 3^rd Edition (https://numista.com/L104066), there are two versions of this coin:

6146 A 

Obv: Princely sign - а schematic image of a church or temple, surrounded by dots and stars, surrounded by a linear rim

Rev: An equilateral cross, surrounded by a legend Б҃Е ПОСОБИ, written clockwise.

6146 B

Obv: Princely sign - а schematic image of a church or temple, surrounded by dots and stars, surrounded by a dotted rim

Rev: An equilateral cross, surrounded by a legend Б҃Е ПОСОБИ, written counterclockwise.