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40 Roubles 5% FREEDOM LOAN DEBENTURE BONDS
| Issuer | Russian Provisional Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Rouble (1700-1917) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black on cream paper, the obverse centres on an oval vignette of the State Duma building in Petrograd, flanked by laurel branches. The heading reads ЗАЕМЪ СВОБОДЫ in bold Cyrillic lettering, with serial number and series designation in the upper corners. Below the vignette, the denomination is stated as 5% ОБЛИГАЦІЯ В ДВАДЦАТЬ РУБЛЕЙ НАРИЦАТЕЛЬНЫХЪ, followed by a patriotic appeal text and multiple ministerial manuscript signatures, dated Петроградъ, 27 марта 1917 года. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ЗАЕМЪ СВОБОДЫ 5% ОБЛИГАЦІЯ В ДВАДЦАТЬ РУБЛЕЙ НАРИЦАТЕЛЬНЫХЪ IV серія Петроградъ, 27 марта 1917 года |
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| Comments |
The Freedom Loan (Zaem Svobody) was launched in April 1917 by the Provisional Government as an urgent attempt to keep Russia solvent and in the war. It was a political gamble dressed up as patriotic finance — the appeal to "freedom" was deliberate, tying the act of lending to the revolutionary moment. Kerensky personally stumped for it. The public response was initially enthusiastic but the underlying fiscal position was already beyond saving.
These 40-rouble debenture bonds circulated alongside ordinary banknotes after the Bolshevik seizure of power rendered the Provisional Government defunct. The new Soviet authorities repudiated all tsarist and Provisional Government debt in February 1918, cancelling any redemption obligation at a stroke.