The Assignation Bank was never truly independent — it functioned as a state printing operation under direct Imperial control, and by 1818 its notes were already regarded with deep public skepticism. Russia's assignat system had been inflating steadily since Catherine II founded the bank in 1769, and by the time this series was introduced the rouble assignat traded at a steep discount to the silver rouble, a gap that would only widen through the 1820s and 1830s.
The entire assignat system was wound up under Finance Minister Kankrin's 1839–1843 monetary reform, which retired all assignats at a fixed rate of 3.5 assignat roubles to one new silver rouble — a ratio that encoded the currency's long devaluation directly into the redemption terms.
The Assignation Bank was never truly independent — it functioned as a state printing operation under direct Imperial control, and by 1818 its notes were already regarded with deep public skepticism. Russia's assignat system had been inflating steadily since Catherine II founded the bank in 1769, and by the time this series was introduced the rouble assignat traded at a steep discount to the silver rouble, a gap that would only widen through the 1820s and 1830s.
The entire assignat system was wound up under Finance Minister Kankrin's 1839–1843 monetary reform, which retired all assignats at a fixed rate of 3.5 assignat roubles to one new silver rouble — a ratio that encoded the currency's long devaluation directly into the redemption terms.