250 Roubles

The 250-rouble denomination was introduced as part of the RSFSR's first independent currency emissions in late 1918, a period when the new Soviet government was simultaneously fighting the Civil War, losing control of major printing facilities to White Army advances, and watching inflation render large-denomination notes obsolete within months of issue. Goznak — the direct successor institution to the Tsarist-era Expedition for the Preparation of State Papers — continued operating from its Moscow plant essentially without interruption through the regime change.

The watermark is the primary security feature retained from pre-revolutionary production practice; paper stocks from the old Imperial supply were still being drawn down well into 1919.