Catalog
5 Roubles Latvia, Libava, Libau
| Issuer | Libava (Liepāja) City Council |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
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| Currency | Russian Rouble (1704-1917) |
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| Obverse description | Blue and white note printed on plain paper, with an intricate guilloche underprint covering the entire field. The central vignette bears the coat of arms of Libava (Liepāja) set within a shield, flanked by the large denomination numerals '5' in ornate cartouches at left and right. The year '1915 г.' appears below the central arms, with the issuer's name in bold Cyrillic letterpress across the centre. Decorative guilloche borders frame all four edges, with vertical marginal inscriptions running along both sides. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ЛИБАВСКОЕ ГОРОДСКОЕ САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЕ ОБЯЗУЕТСЯ ОПЛАТИТЬ ЛИБАВСКОЕ ГОРОДСКОЕ САМОУПРАВЛЕНИЕ 5 Руб. 5 Ры. 1915 г. НАСТОЯЩУЮ ДОЛГОВУЮ РАСПИСКУ НЕМЕДЛЕННО ПО ОКОНЧАНИИ ВОЙНЫ. |
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| Comments |
Libava — the German name for Liepāja — was under Russian imperial administration when this note was issued, but the city's commercial culture was heavily Baltic German, which likely explains the dual-language naming convention that persists even in catalog references. The Libava City Council issued emergency small-denomination notes in 1915 as conventional coinage vanished from circulation almost immediately after the outbreak of war, hoarded by a public with no confidence in what was coming next.
The P#NL designation means no established Pick listing exists, placing this squarely in the territory of local notgeld-adjacent emergency finance — documented primarily through surviving specimens rather than official records.