Kopecks

Kopecks are the subunit of the ruble, used in Russia and several other former Soviet states. One ruble is divided into 100 kopecks, a relationship that has been preserved since the currency systems of the Russian Empire and continued into the Soviet era and the modern Russian Federation. Kopecks have historically circulated as coins and, less frequently, as small-value banknotes in various periods.

Historically, the kopeck emerged in the 16th century as the standard fractional unit of the ruble in the Russian state. It remained a central part of the monetary system through the imperial era and the long years of the Soviet Union. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian ruble continued to use kopecks as its fractional unit, though inflation and monetary reform affected their everyday utility.

In contemporary Russia, kopecks continue to be legal tender, but their practical use in cash transactions has declined as prices and payments have shifted toward rounding and to electronic methods. Coins of small denomination are produced, though many purchases in practice are rounded to the nearest ruble, and the most one might receive as change is a single kopeck or a few kopecks depending on the transaction. The coins have been issued in various alloys over time and feature national symbols and historical motifs.

The concept of a subunit similar to the kopeck exists in other post-Soviet currencies, sometimes under different names. In Ukraine, the kopiyka (копійка) is the subunit of the hryvnia (1 hryvnia = 100 kopiyok), and in Belarus, the kapiejka (копейка/капейка) serves as the fractional unit of the Belarusian ruble (1 ruble = 100 kapeyki). The term kopeck has also entered English as a generic reference to a small monetary unit.