Beard_tax%23Russia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beard_tax#Russia
On September 5, 1698, Russian Tsar Peter the Great imposed a tax on beards. From the article:

"In 1698,[3] Emperor Peter I of Russia instituted a beard tax to bring Russian society in line with Western European models. To enforce the ban on beards, the tsar empowered police to forcibly and publicly shave those who refused to pay the tax.[4] Resistance to going clean shaven was widespread with many believing that it was a religious requirement for a man to wear a beard.[5] The tax levied depended upon the status of the bearded man: Those associated with the Imperial Court, military, or government were charged 60 rubles annually; wealthy merchants were charged 100 rubles per year while other merchants and townsfolk were charged 60 rubles per year; Muscovites were charged 30 rubles per year; and peasants were charged two half-kopeks every time they entered a city.[6]

Beard token Edit
Those who paid the tax were required to carry a "beard token" (Бородовой знак).[7] This was a copper or silver token with a Russian Eagle on the reverse and on the obverse the lower part of a face with nose, mouth, whiskers, and beard. Several different versions were minted between the issuance of the decree and its lifting in 1772.[8] The common round version was inscribed with the words "money taken" (ДЕНГИ ВЗѦТЫ) on the obverse and the date in Cyrillic numerals (҂АѰЕ ГОДѸ, "Year 1705") on the reverse. A rhomboid version issued in 1725 was smooth on the reverse with the phrase "beard tax taken" (СБОРОДЫ ПОШЛИНА ВЗЯТА) on the obverse and "the beard is a superfluous burden" (БОРОДА ЛИШНѦѦ ТѦГОТА) on the edge.[9][10] Walter Hawkins published a paper in 1845 illustrating an example of the token from his own collection, and describing the history of the tax in Russia."