Catalog
250 Roubles
| Issuer | Government Bank, Yerevan Branch |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream paper cheque-style note with a decorative border of guilloche scrollwork and corner ornaments. The central field carries Cyrillic text identifying the Erivan Branch of the State Bank and the Special Current Account of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, with the denomination '250' rendered in large numerals at right and the series and serial number at left. Date of issue reads 'Эривань, Августъ 1919 года' (Erivan, August 1919), with two manuscript signatures at the foot for the Minister-Chairman and the Managing Minister of Finance. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Настоящiй чекъ акцептованъ Эриванскимъ Отдѣленiемъ Государственнаго Банка и подлежитъ оплатѣ Отдѣленiемъ Банка съ 15 Ноября 1919 г. Управляющий Эриванскимъ Отдѣл. Государственнаго Банка Контролеръ Кассиръ |
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| Comments |
Armenia's 1919 issues were produced under genuinely chaotic conditions — the First Republic was simultaneously fighting territorial wars with Azerbaijan and Georgia, managing a catastrophic influx of genocide survivors, and printing currency without a functioning central monetary system. The Yerevan Branch of the Government Bank operated with considerable autonomy precisely because communications with any higher authority were unreliable or nonexistent.
This note was lithographed locally in Erivan, which accounts for the relatively crude production quality common to the entire P#1–P#13 series. The short-lived republic collapsed in late 1920 when Soviet forces entered Yerevan, rendering the entire Armenian rouble issue worthless almost immediately after printing.