Catalog
1 Rouble Russo Asiatic Bank
| Issuer | Russo-Asiatic Bank (Русско-Азиатский Банк), Harbin |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Dark green intaglio printing on white stock, with orange-brown multicolour guilloche scrollwork frame. Denomination numeral '1' appears in each corner and in two large format flanking cartouches on either side of the central text panel, which carries the issuer declaration and date 1917. Three manuscript or printed signatures appear along the lower margin. |
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| Obverse lettering | All lettering is in Russian ( Cyrillic lettering) РУССКО-АЗIАТСКIИ БАНКЪ ХАРБИНЪ ОДИНЪ РУБЛЬ (Translation: RUSSO-ASIATIC BANK HARBIN ONE ROUBLE) |
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| Comments |
The Russo-Asiatic Bank was among the most powerful financial institutions operating in Manchuria during the late imperial and early revolutionary periods, with Harbin functioning as its principal northern outpost along the Chinese Eastern Railway corridor. When the Provisional Government period made reliable currency scarce across the Russian Far East, the bank issued its own notes to keep commerce moving — a common enough response in that chaotic stretch of 1917, but unusual in that the printing was contracted to the American Bank Note Company in New York rather than any Russian or European house.
The ABNC connection is worth noting: by 1917 the company was already producing currency for dozens of governments worldwide, and their intaglio work on this series is characteristically clean. The notes circulated primarily in Harbin's Chinese and Russian mercantile communities, far from any central authority capable of enforcing redemption.