In 1917, the economic situation in the country was extremely unstable. A huge number of banknotes appear in circulation: kerenki, dumka, credit notes and other banknotes, surrogates (banknotes that can only be used locally, in a certain territory or enterprise). In our assortment you can find kerenki and bank marks of the young Soviet republic. The cashier is registered in the name of the settlement marks, for the convenience of replenishing the collection.
"Sovznaki" appear, similar in size to stamps. In 1921, the highest denomination was 10,000,000 rubles, which clearly indicates the need for reforms.
Reforms of the USSR
The low solvency of money and a huge amount of it among the population forces two denominations to be carried out, one in 1921, the second in 1923. The processes of denomination attract bonists and numismatists, because they provide a stream of new bills and coins with which to add to your collection.
In 1922, 12 new banknotes with a denomination of 1 to 10,000 rubles were issued with the Soviet emblem, each of which has its own primary color. The denomination is registered several times. The frame is drawn with a complex pattern. Also, small banknotes are issued - "revenue stamps".
The banknotes of 1923 after the denomination are similar to their predecessors in 1922, but without a blank strip on the left - the drawing replaces the entire field of the banknote.
The next monetary reform takes place in 1947 after the Great Patriotic War, in which old money is replaced with new one. Banknote denominations: 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 rubles. The first three denominations are vertical, the rest are horizontal. They have complex patterns. A portrait of Lenin appears on banknotes of 10 rubles.
The next reform of the USSR takes place in 1961, the issue of banknotes is going on intensively. There are 6 denominations from 1 to 100 rubles, each with its own main color. Bonds of 3 and 5 rubles are decorated with views of the Moscow Kremlin. A portrait of Lenin is printed on banknotes of 10 rubles and above.
Banknotes of the USSR and the RSFSR
A special place in the collection of the "Numismatist Club" store is occupied by the money of the USSR era. We invite all collectors to visit our salon, where you will have the opportunity to purchase the rarest samples of Soviet banknotes and coins. For those who cannot come to us personally, we have posted images rarities in the catalog on this site.Here you can make an online order, which we will promptly send by mail to any region of the Russian Federation.
Sovznaki
From the perspective of bonistics, the time of the Soviets is a rather remarkable period in the history of Russia. For the first time, Soviet money appeared at the beginning of 1919. They had no numbers, no signatures, no year of issue. Because of this, they were popularly nicknamed "Sovznaki". On banknotes from 1 to it was written "Obligatory to circulation on a par with banknotes", and in the center flaunted "Bilibino eagle" - the coat of arms of the Provisional Government of 1917. By the way, today it is the emblem of the Bank of Russia.
In December 1919, 5000 bills with a two-letter series and six-digit numbers were additionally issued. The text "must be addressed ..." was replaced by the motto "Workers of all countries, unite!" in six foreign languages: English, German, French, Italian, Chinese and Arabic. This expressed the reality of the Soviet way of life, namely, in the reorganization of the economy, the abandonment of capitalist relations, and ultimately the elimination of the influence of money.
At that time, wages were paid in cash at the rate of 7%, the remaining 93% - with essential goods. Surplus of important food was obliged to surrender to the state. Subsequently, this led to the appearance of banknotes of large denominations. In 1920, insignia with dignity 3 were put into circulation; 5; 50 rubles with the text "Provided with all the property of the republic".
The emission of 1921 became excessive, at first, banknotes of 5 and 10 thousand rubles were issued, then 25; 50; 100 000. The market responded to this with advance inflation: accounts in the country's economy, and also in personal accounts, were already in the millions. Obligations in 1 were put into circulation; 5; 10 million rubles, and the leadership of the state admitted that "war communism" has no prospects. There was only one way out of this situation: the restoration of trade through monetary relations in full.
During the NEP period in 1922, in order to abstract from the depreciation of banknotes, a solid conditional measure was introduced - the "commodity" ruble (it was also called the gold ruble, which was equal to the 10-thousandth bill). Wages were paid at the rate of the "commodity" ruble.
In 1923 a new type of money came out 1; 3; 5; 10 and 25 ducats, representing loan money. The design of these banknotes was one-sided, of the same type with black printing on white paper. They were the first to depict a portrait of Lenin. The payment power of chervonets remained until 1947.
In 1957, the coat of arms on the banknotes was already with 15 ribbons instead of 16, because The Karelo-Finnish SSR was transformed into the Karelian ASSR. Inscriptions of denominations appeared in all languages of the Union Republics.
Rubles since 1961
The year 1961 is especially remarkable in Soviet bonistics, when the scale of prices was reduced by 10 times. All tariffs were recalculated in a ratio of 1 to 10. Treasury bills of 1 - 100 rubles and new coins were included in the turnover. At the same time, old coins of denomination 1 remained in use; 2; 3 kopecks. The money of the 1961 - 1991 sample had the longest life in comparison with all other state signs before and after. The Soviet Union, after its collapse, took them into history, and in 1991 banknotes of the Russian Federation model appeared.
In 1961, a monetary reform was carried out in the USSR. Old Stalinist money was exchanged for new Khrushchev money. The paper bills have gotten small and tidy. Prior to this, banknotes were not much inferior in size to tsarist money. And now they could be put in a wallet without folding them in half. This, accordingly, saved a huge amount of paper.
The money was exchanged 10: 1. The price tags in stores have changed in the same proportion. The dollar rate was 90 kopecks, but on the black market it cost 4 rubles. Free currency exchange in the Soviet state was prohibited, hence such a difference in the exchange rate.
It must be said that Soviet money was extremely highly valued abroad. They were readily taken from Russian sailors in all stores in the world, since the ruble was considered a reliable and hard currency. Its cost remained unchanged, despite all the crisis storms that constantly shook the Western world.
Below are photos of coins and banknotes of the 1961 sample.
Soviet coins
Prices in Soviet money were radically different from modern prices. First, they were stable and did not change for decades. Second, the ruble had a very high purchasing power.
In the 80s of the last century, the average salary in the country was 254 rubles. That kind of money was received by a mid-level engineer. Workers often received much more. Their salaries in the Far North regions reached both 1000 and 1200 rubles. That is, it was equal to the salary of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
In the European part of the country, the working class received around 280 rubles. The same can be said for engineers. But 120 rubles were paid to laboratory assistants, cleaners, librarians. But even a librarian could receive much more if he went to the East or North.
In the USSR, there was a system of regional coefficients. In the southern regions of Eastern Siberia, this coefficient was 1.3, and in the southern regions of the Far East, 1.4. If the basic salary was 180 rubles, then a person living, say, in Khabarovsk, received 252 rubles. 13% of income tax was deducted from this amount. But the Muscovite received a basic salary minus income.
This payment system stimulated the outflow of the population to the eastern regions. The Soviet government remembered Lomonosov's words that the power of Russia would grow in Siberia. As for the northern regions, the coefficients there were much more significant. They were equal to 1.7, and 1.8, and even higher. Also, don't forget about monthly, quarterly bonuses and the 13th salary.
Now let's see what this money could buy. The meat cost 2.3 rubles per 1 kg. On the market, its cost was 5 rubles per 1 kg. In some cities, the market value of this product was 3 rubles per 1 kg. Cervelat sausage cost 12 rubles per 1 kg. She was not on the free sale, but she periodically appeared in cooperative stores, but not in all cities.
Eggs, milk, bread cost a penny, the same can be said about chickens. But the cost of lunch in the dining room rarely exceeded 60 kopecks. For this amount it was possible to take the first, second, third. A Soviet worker spent 3 rubles a week on meals. Accordingly, he ate 12-13 rubles a month.
A pack of Bulgarian cigarettes initially cost 35 kopecks, then the price rose to 50 kopecks. A bottle of vodka cost from 3.62 to 5.12 rubles. But this alcoholic drink was of extremely high quality. A bottle of cognac cost around 12 rubles. Real French cognac was freely available in stores at 40 rubles per bottle.
For 10 rubles in a restaurant you could eat, get drunk and crawl home on your eyebrows. Chicken tobacco was considered one of the most expensive dishes. Its cost was 3.5 rubles. A dish with a baked young pig lasted 40 rubles.
As for clothing and footwear, domestic products were cheaper than imported ones. The cost of men's German shoes was 60 rubles. Winter boots of German production cost 90 rubles, and women's boots were pulled for 120 rubles. Finnish men's shoes could be bought for 45 rubles. The cost of jeans in the store was 100 rubles. But this type of clothing belonged to the category of scarce.
Women's Yugoslavian sheepskin coat cost around 1000 rubles. The men's one was shorter, so it pulled by 840 rubles. At first, a mink hat cost 450 rubles, then rose to 630 rubles. A dyed muskrat hat of perfect quality was in stores at a price of 104 rubles. A good fashionable jacket could be bought for 160-180 rubles.
A high-quality color TV set cost 700 rubles. Hardware stores were lined with domestic-made washing machines and refrigerators. The same situation was observed with carpets. They lay in heaps and waited for buyers.
In the country of the Soviets, people received apartments for free. But those who did not want to wait in line could buy a cooperative apartment. A three-room cozy nest attracted 12 thousand rubles. With rational spending of money and average earnings, such an amount could be saved in 10 years.
The Zhiguli car cost 5.5 thousand rubles. But there were no car stores. To buy an iron friend, people enrolled in a queue at their place of work. However, the car markets were practiced. On them, anyone could buy a used car at a price slightly higher than the state one.
Life in the USSR, of course, had nothing to do with a fairy tale, but students, having received a scholarship, could celebrate this business in the best city restaurant. At the same time, they would still have a bunch of crispy bills. Soviet money had a high solvency and was provided with a gold reserve of a powerful superpower, which until very recently existed on the territory of Russia and other CIS countries.
... And I am the national ruble, and I am in the hands of the people,
Who builds the world and the world calls to the world,
And in spite of all enemies, I get stronger from year to year.
Well, step aside - the Soviet ruble is coming!
Now this poem is perceived with a smile, where a large proportion of vipers are hiding. The times when prices in stores were government regulated and did not change for decades, began to be forgotten. And it was almost forgotten how from year to year Soviet citizens took out the same invariable bills of various denominations from their wallets. Let's see what paper banknotes were used to pay on the territory of the Soviet Union during its existence and even a little later.
Banknotes of the sample of 1923
Unlike coins, paper banknotes with the emblem of the Soviet Union appeared a little earlier, in 1923. Banknotes of 10,000, 15,000 and 25,000 rubles are printed on paper with a common watermark. On both sides we see the Oryol multicolor printing of the substrate mesh and the one-color typographic prescription. On the front side there are two numbers of the format "two letters - five numbers". The decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of November 23, 1923 provided for the issue of smaller denominations from one hundred to five thousand rubles. But the forthcoming monetary reform and the weaving scale of prices made their release impractical. In parallel, the bills of the RSFSR, printed in the same year, remained in circulation.
Treasury notes, sample 1924
In 1924, the number of zeros on banknotes decreased markedly. The exchange for new money was carried out until the end of May 1924 (with the exception of the Yakutsk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) at the rate of 50,000 old rubles for one new ruble. Banknotes were divided into bank and treasury notes. Treasury bills had a face value of one, three and five rubles. They were printed on paper with a local watermark. The image of the face value is located on the white coupon.
On the one-ruble bill, we can see the Oryol underlay grid with typographic words. The reverse side is printed in two colors. Three- and five-ruble bills are printed in two colors on both sides. The letters from the serial number have disappeared, and the number of digits has increased to seven. The emblem of the USSR has six ribbons (the small seventh, located at the bottom, played a connecting role) with the slogan "Workers of all countries, unite!" in Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani languages. The name of the banknote also began to be duplicated in the languages of the Union of Republics. This tradition lasted until 1991.
Tickets in denominations of three and five rubles are among the most popular. Their catalog value can reach several tens of thousands of rubles. But don't be surprised if you see that they are selling much lower. The real cost rarely corresponds to price tags and catalogs and depends very much on quality ..
Bank note, sample 1924
It was planned to make the chervonets a hard currency, so the denomination of a bank note is three chervonets. On it we recognize the sower we know from the 1923 gold coin. Only this sower copies the original sculpture (half-length portrait). The bank note is made intaglio in one paint on white paper with a local watermark.
Exchangeable treasury bills of the 1924 model
Due to the lack of copper bargaining chip, the State Bank had to issue paper exchange treasury bonds, duplicating copper denominations and additionally including bonds of twenty and fifty kopecks. Each of these coupons is printed on paper with a common watermark. The printing was done in two colors on the front and back sides. These booms do not have a serial number. The most valuable of this set has a twenty-kopeck bond
Treasury notes, sample 1925
The very next year, state treasury bills in denominations of three and five rubles of a new type were put into circulation. Metallography, successfully tested on three ducats, has found application here as well. On the reverse side, we again see the Oryol print in four colors. Two letters are returned to the serial number, and the number of digits is reduced to six.
Bank notes, sample 1926
Gold coins with the coat of arms of the Soviet Union were never minted in large quantities. The government decided to rid the precious metal of circulation in circulation. Therefore, in 1926, the chervonets received not a gold, but a paper embodiment. The bank note is printed on paper without a watermark. On the front side there is a multicolored Orlov mesh and metallographic writing. On the reverse, the drawing may surprise you with its modest size, but not with the details of the execution. A guilloche rosette (iris) was created from small lines. The printing was carried out in two colors.
Bank and Treasury notes, sample 1928
In 1928, the composition of bank notes was expanded with large denominations of two and five ducats. Two ducats are made on white paper without a watermark. On the obverse, we will notice the intaglio printing. On the back we will see the Oryol seal. Another story with five ducats. These bills are printed on paper with a complex local watermark. On one side, we can also observe the intaglio printing method. The denomination of five ducats is considered valuable. According to the catalog, a good preserved bill costs several tens of thousands of rubles. And treasury bills received an interesting addition to their ranks - one ruble in gold with the date "1928". The year of release has changed, but not the production technology.
1932 bank notes
Four years later, the denomination of three ducats began to be issued in a different form. The issue was made on paper without a watermark. On the obverse, we see metallography. On the reverse side, you can see the multicolored Oryol seal. Now three ducats are also given a series of letters and a six-digit number on the front side.
Treasury notes, sample 1932
Treasury notes have also changed. Fragments of propaganda posters depicting a peasant or a Red Army soldier have disappeared. But the abundance of small details, from which the wavy pattern is assembled, significantly increased the protection against counterfeiting. Apparently, they hoped for the drawing very much, since the paper for this issue shows the absence of watermarks. The one-ruble bill is made by typographic method on the epigastric grid. Tickets in denominations of three and five rubles are metallographically printed.
Bank notes, sample 1937
The portrait of Lenin first appeared on the national postage signs immediately after the death of the leader, in 1924 (just remember the funeral edition). But Vladimir Ilyich has been looking at banknotes since 1937. It was this year that the State Bank issued four denominations on thick paper without watermarks. The front side of all banknotes is intaglio printed. But the turnover varies. On a one-piece ticket, this is an Oryol seal in four colors. Three and five ducats are printed on the Oryol grid. And ten ducats have metallography on the back.
1938 Treasury notes
A year later, Treasury notes were also transformed. The tradition of using similar designs on banknotes and stamps has revived. On one ruble we see a worker, on three rubles - a Red Army man, on five rubles - a pilot near the plane. We can easily find this trinity on the standard postage issues of that time. Treasury notes are not watermarked. Their turnover is made with a multicolored Oryol seal. The front side of the ruble has a two-color typographic seal. At three and five rubles, we will notice metallography.
1947 Treasury notes
The monetary reform of 1947 returned the vertical arrangement of the pattern to the Treasury notes. On the obverse of the ruble, we will see the typographic method of printing, the turn is made in the Oryol method in five colors. The same five colors on the back have three- and five-ruble bills. But their front side is intaglio printed on a typographic substrate grid in two colors. A generic watermark appeared on the paper. In 1957, the number of ribbons on the coat of arms of the front side decreased due to the deprivation of the Karelo-Finnish SSR of the status of a union republic and its inclusion in the RSFSR.
1947 banknotes
The banknotes retain the horizontal arrangement of the drawing and the portrait of Lenin. But if on the previous tickets Ilyich looked almost half a turn, now he noticeably turned around, although he continues to look slightly to the side. The disappearance of the word "chervonets" from the face value can be considered significant. Now this is a row of four bills in denominations of 10, 25, 50 and 100 rubles.
1961 bank and treasury notes
Another monetary reform, which included denomination, was carried out in 1961. For the next thirty years, the appearance of paper banknotes will not change. Five-pointed stars become a common watermark. On large bills of 50 and one hundred rubles, a local watermark is visible on a white coupon - a portrait of Lenin. Vladimir Ilyich himself is now made in the form of a bas-relief on bank notes. On four bills of this year of issue, we will see the design of the drawing of the Moscow Kremlin tower.
Bank notes of the sample of 1991
The emission of the 1991 sample has practically the same form. However, a glance will immediately catch a lot of differences. Treasury notes are a thing of the past. Now all banknotes bear the designation "Ticket of the State Bank of the USSR". The names of denominations in national languages have disappeared. From that moment on, the mysterious words "Bir Sum * Bir Som * Bir Manat" will remain only in the memory of the people. The increased prices forced to print denominations of two and five hundred rubles. The thousandth bills also appeared. Specialists will immediately note the fact that metallography on small denominations has been replaced by a cheaper offset method in production. The reduction in price went on the go. This can be traced on the hundred-ruble bill, which in this short period managed to be printed in as many as three versions, where the local watermark was replaced by asterisks, and additional elements were placed on the white coupon to protect against counterfeiting.
Bank notes of the 1992 model
The last issue of paper banknotes with the symbols of the USSR dates back to 1992, when the Union no longer existed. Small denominations are swept aside. The issue starts at fifty rubles. The former republics united within the framework of the CIS initially planned to use a common currency. But the release of national emissions undermined this idea. The flood of out-of-circulation rubles into Russia forced the Russian Federation to first issue banknotes with the designation of the issuer "Bank of Russia", and by mid-1993 to stop circulation of all Soviet rubles. The republics, who believed in a common currency, took upon themselves the avalanche of rubles. The worst hit was the economy of Tajikistan, where the rubles of the USSR were a means of payment until 1995.
There are a lot of bank and treasury notes of the 1961, 1991 and 1992 samples. Therefore, they are valued exclusively in the "press" condition. Collectors do not make such high demands on the safety of paper money of the early USSR. But crumpled and torn bills, of course, are in demand only if they are extremely rare. So how much do they cost? How to find out the real value of the paper money of the Soviet Union? We recommend looking not only at the catalog of paper money of the USSR, but focusing on the current auction aisles.
