St. George galloping right, dog below, K-dot in fields // Two men standing, facing each other, partial circular legend КНZЬ ИВАНЪ ОНДРÝЕВНЧ. 12mmx9mm, 0.40 grams. Mozhaysk mint, struck 1446-1454. Guletsky/Petrunin #1378.

Rare and high quality example.

Ivan Andreyevich was the last independent Duke of Mozhaysk, reigning 1432-1454. After his banishment from Mozhaysk, he escaped to Lithuania. From the Grand Duke of Lithuania he received the cities of Chernigov, Starodub, Gomel and Lubech.

The Duchy of Mozhaysk was a small medieval Rus’ principality centered on the town of Mozhaysk, west of Moscow, and existed mainly in the 13th–14th centuries. It was typically ruled by junior members of the Rurikid dynasty as an appanage and held strategic importance as a western defensive outpost guarding approaches to Moscow from Smolensk and Lithuania. Although occasionally semi-independent, Mozhaysk was closely tied to the Grand Principality of Moscow and often fell under its influence or direct control. By the late 14th century, the duchy was absorbed into the expanding Muscovite state, losing its separate princely status as Moscow consolidated surrounding lands.