1 Rouble Republic of Kalmykia

Kalmykia's regional collector issues from the early 2010s occupy an awkward administrative space — they were produced as legal tender under Russian federal authority but were effectively souvenir pieces, never intended for circulation. The Republic of Kalmykia is the only Buddhist-majority federal subject in Russia, a remnant of the westward Oirat migration of the 17th century. Stalin deported the entire Kalmyk population to Siberia in 1943, accusing them of collaboration with German forces; roughly half died before Khrushchev permitted their return in 1957.