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50 Kopecks
| Issuer | Bank for Foreign Trade of the USSR (Vneshtorgbank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1985-1989 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Light blue on pale green underprint with fine guilloche patterning. A line-engraved vignette of the cruise ship Shota Rustaveli occupies the lower centre, with two facsimile signatures above. The denomination «50 КОПЕЕК» appears in a guilloche rosette at upper right, with Cyrillic text arranged in horizontal registers across the upper and lower portions. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Отрезной чек Банка для внешней торговли СССР (выпуск 1985 года) По этому чеку Внешторгбанк СССР выплатит пятьдесят копеек БАНК ДЛЯ ВНЕШНЕЙ ТОРГОВЛИ СССР 50 КОПЕЕК А № Настоящий чек принимается в уплату за товары и услуги на советских судах, совершающих международный круиз |
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| Comments |
Vneshtorgbank certificates were a parallel currency system — technically not legal tender for Soviet citizens in the conventional sense, but accepted at Beriozka hard-currency shops where imported goods and otherwise unobtainable items were sold. The certificates circulated in a closed loop, insulating the state from actual foreign exchange outflows while extracting hard currency from diplomats, foreign workers, and Soviet citizens with earnings abroad.
The 1985–1989 series replaced an earlier Vneshposyltorg certificate system. By 1991 the entire scheme had collapsed alongside the institutions that sustained it, and remaining certificates were rendered worthless almost overnight.