10 Roubles Foreign Trade Certificate

Vneshtorgbank's Foreign Trade Certificates — sometimes called "yellow-label" chervontsy in collector shorthand — were instruments of hard-currency rationing, not ordinary banknotes. Soviet citizens who received foreign earnings, diplomats, and authorized traders were issued these certificates redeemable at Beryozka shops, the closed retail network where imported and otherwise unavailable goods could be purchased. The yellow stripe distinguished certificates denominated in non-socialist currencies from the blue-label series tied to COMECON trading partners.

The political logic was airtight: the state captured hard currency at the point of entry while maintaining the fiction of a unified rouble. These never circulated alongside ordinary Soviet money — possession by an unauthorized person was itself a criminal offense under Soviet currency regulations.