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25 000 Roubles 5% FREEDOM LOAN DEBENTURE BONDS
| Issuer | Russian Provisional Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Rouble (1700-1917) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ЗАЕМЪ СВОБОДЫ №001400 I серiя ГОСУДАРСТВЕННАЯ ДУМА 5% ОБЛИГАЦІЯ ВЪ ДВАДЦАТЬ ПЯТЬ ТЫСЯЧЪ РУБЛЕЙ нарицательныхъ Министръ-Предсѣдатель Петроградъ, 27 марта 1917 года |
| Reverse description | Reverse printed in reddish-brown on cream paper, divided into two sections: a large left panel with dense letterpress text setting out loan conditions, terms of redemption, coupon payment venues, and bearing the signature of the Finance Minister; a right panel containing ten attached interest coupons numbered 1–10, each within a guilloche frame, bordered by a repeating ornamental frame. |
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| Comments |
The Freedom Loan — Zaём Svobody — was launched in April 1917 by the Provisional Government as an urgent attempt to finance continued Russian participation in World War I. Kerensky personally toured the country promoting it, and the campaign leaned heavily on revolutionary rhetoric to substitute for the creditworthiness the old imperial debt had provided. Investors were skeptical, and rightly so.
These high-denomination debentures were printed domestically at Petrograd under severely strained wartime conditions, which shows in the production quality. The Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917 rendered them worthless within months of issue — the new government repudiated all Provisional Government and Imperial debt in February 1918.