Catalog
1 Ruble
| Issuer | Russian-American Company / Российско-американская компания |
|---|---|
| Year | 1816-1852 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central oval guilloche vignette with concentric lathe-work bands, within which the Cyrillic inscription МАРКА ВЪ АМЕРИКѢ РУБ. surrounds the numeral 1. Below the oval vignette, a handwritten serial number appears in a plain rectangular panel, followed by a lower rectangular panel bearing a manuscript director's signature in cursive Cyrillic script. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse bears a large circular seal vignette at centre, enclosing a Russian Imperial double-headed eagle beneath a crown, surrounded by the circular Cyrillic legend of the Russian-American Company under Imperial patronage. Below the seal, the denomination is printed in bold Cyrillic letterpress text, and a faint oval outline frames the entire composition on the plain paper ground. |
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| Comments |
The Russian-American Company was a chartered trading monopoly granted exclusive rights over Russian Alaska and the North Pacific fur trade. Its paper notes — issued in denominations including this 1 Rubl' — circulated as the sole medium of exchange within the company's Alaskan settlements, where coined money was both scarce and impractical to import. Workers, hunters, and indigenous laborers received payment in these notes and could only redeem them at company stores, a closed system that effectively bound the workforce to the issuer.
The series ran across nearly four decades under successive company charters, which is why the reference spans 1816–1852 rather than a single year. Notes from the earlier issues are considerably rarer; most known survivors date from the later renewal period.