Catalog
3 Silver Roubles
| Issuer | Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1841 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#A23 |
| Obverse description | The obverse is arranged in a vertical format with an elaborate ornamental border composed of repeating guilloche medallions along all four sides, with denomination numeral '3' in the corners. A double-headed Imperial eagle vignette occupies the upper central area beneath a royal crown, framing an oval cartouche containing the large numeral '3'. Below, bilingual text in Cyrillic and Latin script identifies the issuing bank and states the value in Russian roubles of silver, with serial number appearing twice in the upper middle field and the year '1841' printed on both lateral borders. Two manuscript signatures of the bank's president (Prezes Banku) and director (Dyrektor Banku) appear at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | THREE ROUBLES SILVER KINGDOM OF POLAND BANK POLSKI |
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| Comments |
Bank Polski occupied an unusual constitutional position — it was a Polish institution operating under Russian imperial oversight following the 1830 November Uprising, which had stripped the Kingdom of Poland of most autonomous functions by 1832. That a bank bearing the Polish name continued issuing notes denominated in roubles through the 1840s reflects the awkward hybrid status of the Congress Kingdom: nominally distinct, practically subordinate.
The silver rouble denomination was not incidental. Denominating in silver roubles rather than paper assignats was a deliberate signal of backing — the Russian government was itself struggling with assignat depreciation, and silver-denominated notes carried implicit convertibility claims that mattered to a mercantile public with long memories of currency collapse.
P#A23 status suggests limited surviving examples have been catalogued with certainty.