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15 Kopecks Baku
| Issuer | Baku City Council (Бакинская Городская Управа) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette shows the municipal arms of Baku — a shield bearing flame motifs flanked by ornamental foliate scrollwork — set within a rectangular guilloche border. The denomination numeral '15' appears in large characters below the arms, with the value '15' repeated in the lower left and right corners alongside the abbreviated legend 'КОП' at centre bottom. The overall design is printed in brown on plain paper in a stamp-like format with a serrated edge. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in brown on plain paper and carries the full Cyrillic text of the issuing authority arranged in a scroll-and-cartouche surround at the top, with the numeral '15' within a circular medallion at the apex. The main panel contains a multi-line text declaration in pre-reform Russian orthography stating that the note circulates on a par with divisional coinage. The denomination '15' is repeated in small frames at the lower left and right corners. |
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| Comments |
Baku in 1918 was a city in genuine administrative freefall. The short-lived Baku Commune, backed by Bolsheviks and Armenian Dashnak forces, held the city from April until late July, when it collapsed under Ottoman military pressure. The City Council — a distinct, more conservative municipal body — issued emergency fractional notes like this one to address a severe shortage of small-denomination currency that had been building since the Russian imperial supply chain broke down in 1917.
Fractional kopeck issues from Transcaucasian municipal authorities of this period are routinely underestimated in rarity terms. Most circulated hard in a city that changed hands three times in a single year — Ottoman forces took Baku in September 1918, the British arrived weeks later, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic consolidated control in 1919.