The son of Catherine II, Paul I, who ascended the throne, immediately issued a decree to return to the original form of those coins that had been minted during the last years of his mother’s reign. When the recoining ended, the Moscow, Annensky and Nizhny Novgorod mints closed. The rest began issuing new Pavlovian coins. Paul I reigned for just over four years. During this time, not a single coin with his image was issued. Such was the will of the Emperor himself.