Catalog
5 Rubli Łódź
| Issuer | Urząd Starszych Zgromadzenia Kupców m. Łodzi i Komitet Giełdowy Łódzki |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed in blue on a fine guilloche underprint, the obverse carries the large bold denomination title PIĘĆ RUBLI at the top, with a central oval vignette enclosing the numeral 5 flanked by heraldic lion supporters and an explanatory text panel in Polish. The series designation Serja A appears at upper left, with the serial number printed in red at upper right, and multiple facsimile signatures of the issuing merchant and exchange committee authorities arranged in two columns in the lower half. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in blue on a matching guilloche underprint, the reverse presents the text entirely in pre-reform Russian, with a central dark cartouche bearing the Cyrillic denomination ПЯТЬ РУБЛ. and the numeral 5. The series designation Серiя А appears at lower left and the serial number in red at lower right, with facsimile signatures of the merchant board and exchange committee in two columns above. A red oval cachет stamp of the Wydział Finansowy U.SZK.i.K. is present on the left margin. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Łódź's twin merchant institutions — the Elders of the Merchants' Assembly and the Łódź Exchange Committee — issued this note jointly during the German occupation of 1915, when the collapse of the Russian Imperial ruble left the city's commercial infrastructure functionally without a working currency. These bodies had no formal monetary authority; the issue was a practical improvisation by the textile trade establishment, not a governmental act.
Łódź was then the most industrialized city in the Russian partition, its weaving mills still limping toward output despite wartime dislocation. The merchants who signed off on this emission were buying time for trade to continue at all.