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2 Kopeks - Foreign Exchange Certificate
| Issuer | Vneshtorgbank (Внешпосылторг) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1965-1972 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 81 x 56 mm |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress text on light orange underprint within a dark green guilloche border. The Внешпосылторг globe-and-laurel logo appears at upper left, with the denomination numeral '2' in dark green at each upper corner. Certificate text in Cyrillic reads РАЗМЕННЫЙ СЕРТИФИКАТ with the value ДВЕ КОПЕЙКИ in bold. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain cream paper stock bearing a single central dark green guilloche vignette of scalloped cartouche form, filled with ornate scrollwork and arabesque foliage engraving. No inscriptions or denomination numerals appear on the reverse. |
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| Comments |
Vneshtorgbank's Foreign Exchange Certificates were a Soviet instrument for controlling hard currency access without admitting that hard currency existed. Citizens who received money from abroad — remittances, foreign earnings, prize winnings — were paid in these certificates rather than roubles, which could then be spent only at Beryozka ("birch tree") shops stocking Western goods unavailable through normal Soviet retail channels.
The 1965 series introduced a color-coded stripe system to segregate certificate holders by source of funds: yellow-striped notes were for Soviet citizens, blue for foreign nationals. The distinction enforced a two-tier access system even within the certificate scheme itself.
Vneshtorgbank is sometimes listed as issuer, but the certificates were operationally administered through Vneshposyltorg, the foreign parcel and remittance agency — a distinction that confuses attribution in many catalogs.