3 Roubles The Forwarding Agency of the State Paperstock

The Forwarding Agency of the State Paperstock — known in Russian as the Экспедиция заготовления государственных бумаг — was established in St. Petersburg in 1818, making 2018 its bicentennial year and the direct occasion for this issue. Founded under Alexander I, the Agency held a monopoly on producing all official state documents, banknotes, and security paper for the Russian Empire, and later the Soviet state, for well over a century. Its technical capabilities were considered among the most sophisticated in Europe throughout the nineteenth century.

The institution was eventually reorganized into Goznak, which continues to produce Russian banknotes and official documents today.