5 Roubles Batum

Batum — the Black Sea port seized by British forces in December 1918 — was administered under military occupation when this note was produced. The Batum Branch of the State Bank operated under that occupation authority, issuing fractional currency to address a severe small-denomination shortage common across the entire Caucasus region in 1919, where Bolshevik, Menshevik, Transcaucasian, and various occupation-backed monetary systems competed simultaneously in the same markets.

The extreme miniature format was a direct consequence of wartime paper scarcity, not a design choice. British forces withdrew from Batum in July 1920, after which the note had no issuing authority left to back it.