concept
Pyatialtynny (fifteen-kopeck piece)
Pyatialtynny
also: пятиалтынный, fifteen-kopeck piece
A pre-revolutionary Russian coin worth fifteen kopecks (five three-kopeck altyn), small change used here to buy medicine for the dying Shchiptsov.
Reading notes
- An Actor's Doom §16 пятиалтынный
A pyatialtynny was a coin worth fifteen kopecks (five altyn of three kopecks each) — small change, underscoring how threadbare the troupe's finances are even for medicine.
- At Christmastime §5 fifteen kopecks
A pre-revolutionary Russian coin worth fifteen kopecks, the price the family settles on with Yegor for writing their letter.