1 Rouble 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Lenin

Issued to mark the centenary of Lenin's birth on April 22, 1870, this rouble was part of a broad state propaganda campaign that permeated every medium in the USSR during 1970 — postage stamps, films, architectural dedications, and coinage alike. The Soviet Mint struck these in very large numbers, and they circulated freely rather than being hoarded, which means worn examples are genuinely common while uncirculated survivors are less so than mintage figures alone would suggest.

The centenary year also saw the renaming of Ulyanovsk's central square and a formal resolution by the Supreme Soviet enshrining Lenin's theoretical works as the ideological foundation of Soviet state policy.