500 Roubles

The 500 Rouble notes of 1915 belong to the Romanov-era treasury obligations series — technically short-term interest-bearing instruments rather than banknotes in the strict sense, though they circulated freely as currency. By 1915, wartime expenditure was already overwhelming the Russian financial system, and the State Treasury was issuing paper at a pace the Expedition of State Paper Manufacture struggled to maintain. Print quality on this series reflects that pressure.

Pick 59 is among the higher denominations that saw relatively limited hand-to-hand use, given the sum involved. The guilloche work is characteristic of Goznak's pre-revolutionary output — technically accomplished, produced in-house.