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5 Roubles Odessa
| Issuer | City of Odessa (Размѣнный билетъ гор. Одессы) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Rouble (1917-1924) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a large spread-winged eagle vignette at centre-left, set against a fine guilloche underprint. The numeral '5' appears at upper centre within an ornamental rosette border, above the bold Cyrillic inscription 'ПЯТЬ РУБЛЕЙ'. A cameo portrait of Mercury in classical style occupies the lower right corner, while the left margin carries a vertical panel with the denomination repeated in Cyrillic. The year '1917' and the legend 'РАЗМѢННЫЙ БИЛЕТЪ ГОРОДА ОДЕССЫ' appear in the central text block, with a cautionary anti-counterfeiting notice along the lower border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is entirely typeset, presenting a dense block of Cyrillic text listing the financial institutions of Odessa that guaranteed the note's acceptance, set within a guilloche-bordered frame. The numeral '5' appears in each of the four corners within ornamental rosette medallions, and the anti-counterfeiting warning 'ПОДДѢЛКА ПРЕСЛѢДУЕТСЯ ЗАКОНОМЪ' is repeated in banner form at both the top and bottom of the note. A serial number is printed vertically along the left margin. |
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| Comments |
Odessa's municipal government began issuing its own small-denomination exchange notes in 1917 as the Russian imperial monetary system fractured and coin shortages became acute — a problem that plagued virtually every city administration trying to maintain daily commerce that year. The Размѣнный билетъ, literally a "change ticket," was a practical local fix, not an act of political defiance.
The print date of 30 April 1945 is a catalog artifact, not a production date for the note itself — a common source of confusion in Soviet-era archival records for pre-revolutionary material.