25 Roubles Soviet Baku

The Soviet of the Baku City Economy issued this note during the brief and turbulent Baku Commune period of 1918 — a Bolshevik-dominated authority that held the city from April to August before being overthrown by the Centro-Caspian Dictatorship with British backing. Local emergency currency proliferated in this window because central Bolshevik supply lines were effectively severed and the Caucasus was operating in near-total monetary isolation.

Printed locally under extremely constrained conditions, the note reflects the improvised nature of Soviet authority in Baku during its short existence. The commune itself collapsed in late July 1918; the Twenty-Six Baku Commissars were executed shortly after.