Russia's Assignation Bank was established by Catherine II in 1769 specifically to fund military expenditures without depleting the state's coin reserves — the assignat rouble was never intended as a long-term instrument, but it outlived its original mandate by decades. By the early nineteenth century, chronic over-issue had gutted confidence: the assignat rouble traded at a steep discount against silver, sometimes as low as 25 kopeks on the paper rouble by the Napoleonic period.
Counterfeiting was a persistent and documented problem throughout the series run. The relatively simple typography and absence of sophisticated intaglio work made these notes easier to replicate than later imperial issues, and the government was forced into several design interventions before finally retiring the entire assignat system in 1843 under Nicholas I.
Russia's Assignation Bank was established by Catherine II in 1769 specifically to fund military expenditures without depleting the state's coin reserves — the assignat rouble was never intended as a long-term instrument, but it outlived its original mandate by decades. By the early nineteenth century, chronic over-issue had gutted confidence: the assignat rouble traded at a steep discount against silver, sometimes as low as 25 kopeks on the paper rouble by the Napoleonic period.
Counterfeiting was a persistent and documented problem throughout the series run. The relatively simple typography and absence of sophisticated intaglio work made these notes easier to replicate than later imperial issues, and the government was forced into several design interventions before finally retiring the entire assignat system in 1843 under Nicholas I.