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1 Rouble
| Issuer | Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Soviet Republic (RSFSR) ‒ Rouble (1921-1923) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in reddish-brown on a pale guilloche underprint and carries a central vignette of the RSFSR state coat of arms — hammer and sickle crossed over a rising sun, flanked by wheat sheaves, with a scroll banner below bearing the Workers' International motto. The denomination numeral '1' appears in each corner within rectangular cartouches, and the words ОДИН (One) are set in bold letterpress at top and bottom, with РУБЛЬ split vertically along the left and right margins. Below the arms, a text block in Cyrillic declares the note a расчётный знак (settlement token) of the RSFSR, legally equivalent to credit notes. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in red and blue-green on an all-over red guilloche latticework underprint. At centre, a large scalloped cartouche in fine engine-turned guilloche work contains the bold numeral '1' in white relief against a blue-green ground, with a small rosette ornament at the midpoint of the digit. Below the numeral, the denomination inscription РУБЛЬ is set in a serif letterpress band at the base of the cartouche. |
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| Comments |
The RSFSR's 1919 small-denomination notes were produced under genuinely chaotic conditions — the civil war was disrupting supply chains, paper stock was irregular, and the new Soviet printing apparatus was still absorbing the infrastructure it had seized from the Tsarist State Bank. The 1 Rouble (Pick 81) belongs to a broader emergency emission intended to keep low-value transactions functioning while hyperinflation steadily made such denominations nearly worthless before they could even be distributed.
With over twelve million printed, survival rates are reasonable, but the extreme small format made these notes prone to loss and damage in circulation. The guilloche underprint is the sole security measure — a thin concession to counterfeiting concerns in an economy where the currency itself was collapsing.