10 Kopecks - Foreign Exchange Certificate

Vneshtorgbank's Foreign Exchange Certificates were introduced to manage hard currency among Soviet citizens and foreigners who had legitimate access to it — diplomats, sailors, technical specialists working abroad, and their dependents. The certificates circulated in a parallel economy, redeemable at Beryozka shops for Western goods unavailable through normal Soviet retail channels. That two-tier system was the entire point: capture foreign currency, redirect it through state-controlled retail, and prevent dollar or mark holdings from feeding a black market the state could not monitor.

The 1965–1966 series is sometimes called the "yellow stripe" series, distinguishing it from the later issues. Forgeries targeting Beryozka shops were a known problem by the early 1970s.