Catalog
5 Silver Roubles
| Issuer | Expedition for the Preparation of State Papers (EZGB) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1843-1865 |
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| Currency | Rouble (1700-1917) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is composed entirely in letterpress, presenting the full text of the Imperial Manifesto on Credit Notes (ИЗВЛЕЧЕНИЕ ИЗ ВЫСОЧАЙШАГО МАНИФЕСТА О КРЕДИТНЫХ БИЛЕТАХЪ) in two columns of dense Cyrillic type, with numbered articles governing issuance and redemption. A large crowned Imperial double-headed eagle is rendered in a pale tint or blind emboss at centre, functioning as an underprint beneath the surrounding legislative text. The overall layout is austerely typographic, with legal authority rather than decorative guilloche work defining the design. |
| Reverse lettering | ИЗВЛЕЧЕНИЕ ИЗ ВЫСОЧАЙШАГО МАНИФЕСТА О КРЕДИТНЫХ БИЛЕТАХЪ |
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| Comments |
The Expedition for the Preparation of State Papers (EZGB) was the Russian state's own security printing house, established in 1818 specifically to bring banknote production under direct government control — ending a prior dependence on foreign printers. These 5 Rouble credit notes, issued across a span of more than two decades under Nicholas I and into Alexander II's reign, circulated in a monetary environment where silver remained the official monetary standard and paper notes were formally convertible to it, at least in theory. Actual convertibility was intermittently suspended.
The series covered a long stretch of fiscal instability, including the enormous costs of the Crimean War, which by 1858 had badly strained convertibility commitments.