решка

From решётка (rešótka, “tails (since 1730s, now obsolete); lattice, grid”), from решето́ (rešetó, “sieve”), likely referring to the design of 5 kopeck copper coins in the 1720s (Fig. 2), or perhaps to the earlier silver kopeck coins.

Possibly the earliest sieve-like design of решка

• IPA^(key): [ˈrʲeʂkə]

ре́шка • (réška) f inan (genitive ре́шки, nominative plural ре́шки, genitive plural ре́шек)

1. (dialectal) sieve

   Просей зерно через решку.

2. (colloquial) tails (the side of a coin not bearing a coat of arms)

   орёл и́ли ре́шка? ― orjól íli réška? ― heads or tails?

• The terms орёл (orjól) and ре́шка (réška) are applicable only to coins which, like Russia's coinage, have a coat of arms on one side and something else (e.g. the portrait of the head of state or the value of the coin) on the other. The terms аве́рс (avérs) and ре́верс (révers) are more universally applicable, but used mainly in numismatics.

• (heads): аве́рс (avérs)
• (tails): ре́верс (révers)