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10 Silver Roubles

Issuer State Treasury of the Russian Empire (Экспедиция Кредитных Билетов)
Year 1843-1865
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Composition Paper
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Obverse description The note is printed in rose-red on white paper within an ornate scrollwork frame. At the top centre, the Imperial crowned double-headed eagle vignette is flanked by the denomination numeral '10' on each side, with the year of issue positioned diagonally in the upper corners. The body of the note carries the full text of the promise to pay in cursive script, with three manuscript signatures below — those of the Upravlyayushchiy (Manager), Direktor (Director), and Kassir (Cashier) — followed by the serial number repeated at lower left and lower right.
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Protection type Watermark
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Comments

The "Credit Билеты" (Credit Tickets) series of which this note is part were nominally backed by silver deposits held at the State Treasury — the 1843 reform under Finance Minister Kankrin having established a fixed exchange rate of one assignat rouble to one silver rouble. In practice, the reserve requirement proved impossible to maintain as the Crimean War drained bullion reserves after 1853, and by 1858 convertibility had been suspended entirely, rendering the silver denomination printed on the face largely theoretical.

The Экспедиция Заготовления Государственных Бумаг had been producing state paper since 1818 and was one of the few European government print works of the period operating its own intaglio engraving department rather than contracting to private firms.