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5 Roubles - Foreign Exchange Certificate
| Issuer | Vneshtorgbank (Внешпосылторг) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1965-1967 |
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| Value | 5 Roubles (5 SUR) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Black text on light orange guilloche underprint within a dark red border. A bold diagonal yellow band crosses the centre. The Внешпосылторг organisation logo appears at upper left, with Cyrillic inscriptions stating the certificate value of five roubles. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain pale background with a central scallop-edged oval vignette in dark rose-red, containing an elaborate interlaced guilloche pattern with the numeral 5 rendered in ornate script. The overall design is simple, relying on the central vignette as the sole decorative element. |
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| Comments |
Vneshtorgbank's foreign exchange certificates — commonly called "cheki" — were introduced in the mid-1960s as a mechanism for extracting hard currency from Soviet citizens who received remittances from abroad or earned wages in foreign postings. Rather than allowing direct access to foreign goods or convertible currency, the state funneled those earnings into Beryozka stores, where the certificates functioned as the only accepted tender. The system was deliberately designed to capture foreign exchange while maintaining the fiction that the ruble was not being devalued relative to western currencies.
The 1965–1967 series is distinguished by its lack of a yellow strip along the left edge — that feature appeared on later issues specifically to differentiate certificates intended for different recipient categories. Early series cheki are consequently harder to attribute by source.