5 Roubles

The RSFSR 1923 currency series appeared during the Soviet state's first serious attempt to stabilize money after years of hyperinflationary collapse. The sovznaki — the earlier Soviet paper issues — had become so worthless that wages were measured in millions; by 1923, the Narkomfin was issuing transitional ruble notes while simultaneously preparing the chervonets system that would eventually replace the entire sovznak base. This note belongs to that awkward interim period, circulating alongside denominations that differed in real purchasing power by orders of magnitude depending on the week.

The 1923 series was superseded within months by the 1924 monetary reform, which fixed the exchange rate at 50,000 1923 rubles to one new gold-backed ruble.