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| Issuer | Narodny Komissariat Finansov (People's Commissariat of Finance), RSFSR |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Emergency banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain white note printed in black letterpress on uncoated paper. The full title of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic is inscribed across the upper portion in large Cyrillic text, below which the obligation text states payment of one million roubles at all income-expenditure offices of the People's Commissariat of Finance. Three manuscript signatures appear at centre — those of the People's Commissar of Finance, the Head of the Currency and Settlements Department, and the Chief Accountant — alongside a serial number, the series designation 'АВ' at upper left, and the denomination 'Руб. 1.000.000' at upper right, with the year 1921 г. at lower right. A large guilloche-style numeral '1000000' vignette is printed vertically along the left margin. |
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| Obverse lettering | Серия АВ. Руб. 1.000.000. Обязательство Российской Социалистической Федеративной Советской Республики. Предъявителю сего уплачивается один миллион рублей существующими расчётными знаками во всех Приходо-Расходных Кассах Народного Комиссариата Финансов, Губфинотделов и Уфинотделов Р.С.Ф.С.Р. Народный Комиссар Финансов Завдующий отделом денежн. и расчетн. знаков Главный Бухгалтер 1921 г. |
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| Comments |
The short-term certificates (kratkosrochnye obyazatelstva) of 1921 were a fiscal instrument distinct from ordinary currency — interest-bearing obligations issued by the Commissariat of Finance as the Soviet government attempted to manage catastrophic inflation while simultaneously refusing, on ideological grounds, to acknowledge that inflation was a problem. The million-rouble face value was a direct consequence of the monetary collapse inherited from the Civil War years, when the Sovznaks lost value faster than new denominations could be designed and printed.
These certificates circulated alongside ordinary banknotes but were technically debt instruments, redeemable at term. In practice the distinction mattered little — hyperinflation made the interest component meaningless within weeks of issue.