Under Catherine II (1762-1796), the German princess on the Russian throne, Russia became a European great power. Catherine enlarged her empire by taking over parts of Poland, and the Crimea. Catherine brought the currency system in line with the new economic conditions. She concentrated her attention on the copper coins, which were nothing else than restamped old coppers. Catherine had new copper coins issued, with the traditional denominations of 5, 2, 1, 1/2 und 1/4 kopeck.