Catalog
1 Silver Rouble
| Issuer | Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1851 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Green guilloche underprint covers the entire face, with two salmon-pink circular value medallions bearing the numeral "1" in the upper left and upper right corners. A central oval vignette contains the Russian Imperial double-headed eagle with the date 1851 split across either side, surmounted by an Imperial crown with flanking ornamental scrollwork. The lower portion carries two serial number panels and signature lines for the Prezes Banku and Dyrektor Banku, with a small pink "1" medallion between them. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ПОЛЬСКIЙ БАНКЪ ВЫДАЕТЪ ПРЕДЪЯВИТЕЛЮ ОДИНЪ РУБЛЬ СЕРЕБРОМЪ СЧИТАЯ СТО РУССКИХЪ РУБЛЕЙ ЧИСТАГО СЕРЕБРА ВЪ 22 ЗОЛОТ. BANK POLSKI WYPŁACI OKAZICIELOWI JEDEN RUBEL SREBREM WEDŁUG STOPY DO 22 Z RUBLA CZYSTEGO SRDBRA WAGI ROSSK. Prezes Banku Dyrektor Banku |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Bank Polski operated under the tight supervision of the Russian imperial administration following the failed November Uprising of 1830–31, which stripped the Kingdom of Poland of most of its autonomous institutions. By the 1850s, the bank was effectively a subordinate instrument of St. Petersburg's financial apparatus, not an independent central bank. The 1851 silver rouble notes were denominated in the Russian monetary unit precisely because the złoty-based system had been suppressed following the 1841 monetary unification decree, which forcibly aligned Polish circulation with the imperial rouble standard.
Bank Polski was liquidated in 1885, absorbed into the Russian State Bank's Warsaw branch. Notes from this series rarely survived in collectible condition — institutional destruction accounted for most.