Catalog
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| Issuer | Chita Branch of the State Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The note is printed on a single sheet with an ornate decorated border frame enclosing the central text field. A control stamp (контрольная марка) is affixed to the note face, bearing the denomination in both numeral and written form. An additional circular ink stamp of the Chita Branch of the State Bank is applied over the note surface, serving as a validation mark. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | (Note) ЧИТИНСКОЕ ОТДЕЛЕНИЕ Государственнаго Банка. Имеет хождение наравне с кредитными билетами в пределах Забайкальской области. (Paper Stamp) контрольная марка 5 пять рублей (Ink stamp) Читинское Отделение Государственного Банка (Translation: (Note) CHITA BRANCH OF THE STATE BANK. Valid for use in the Baikal region on a par with banknotes. (Paper Stamp) Control Stamp 5 five roubles (Ink stamp) Chita Branch of the State Bank) |
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| Comments |
Chita in 1918 was the administrative center of the Transbaikal region and, for a period, the base of Grigory Semyonov's anti-Bolshevik forces. The State Bank branch there operated in genuinely chaotic conditions — cut off from Petrograd, competing monetary authorities overlapping, and Japanese-backed Cossack troops controlling the rail lines. Local branches resorted to provisional measures simply to maintain any functional currency supply at all.
The "Control Stamp" designation is the telling detail here. These were not purpose-designed notes but existing State Bank forms with an overprint or handstamp applied locally to authorize or revalue them — a stopgap measure whose paper trail is incomplete enough that distinguishing Type 1 from Type 2 variants still generates disagreement among specialists.