25 Roubles

The 1899 series was the last major issue of the Russian Imperial State Bank before the upheavals of the twentieth century consumed both the institution and the currency. The sheer volume of cashier signature combinations — over thirty documented pairings across two State Bank directors, Eduard Pleske and Sergei Timashev — reflects a note that remained in active production and circulation for well over a decade, spanning the Russo-Japanese War, the 1905 revolution, and into the First World War period.

Pleske served as State Bank director until 1903; Timashev held the post from 1903 to 1909, giving collectors a rough terminus for each signature group. The secondary signatories were serving cashiers, and their rotation through the pairings is the primary tool for sequencing printings within the series.