1 Rouble straight 'ОДИН РУБЛЬ' under Eagle

This rouble belongs to the post-redenomination series introduced on 1 January 1998, when the Russian government lopped three zeros off the currency — one new rouble equalling one thousand old ones. The reform was Yeltsin's administration attempting to signal macroeconomic stabilisation after the catastrophic inflation of the early 1990s. It worked, briefly: within eight months Russia defaulted on its domestic debt and the rouble collapsed again in August 1998, making coins from the 1997 pre-issue strike and the immediate 1998 run witnesses to one of the most rapid monetary reversals in modern Russian history.

The "straight" inscription variety distinguishes this from the curved-legend variant — a minor die difference that emerged from the Moscow Mint's production runs and now anchors a small but active collector specialisation within the series.