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500 Roubles - Foreign Exchange Certificate
| Issuer | Vneshtorgbank (Внешторгбанк) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1976 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Rectangular |
| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Red and orange tonal print on cream paper; a large ornate guilloche rosette at left frames the denomination numeral "500" with Cyrillic legend "РУБЛЕЙ" below. Central text reads "ЧЕК / НА ПОЛУЧЕНИЕ / ТОВАРОВ / НА СУММУ" beneath the cursive script heading. A second rosette vignette appears at right with repeated denomination, and a globe emblem is inset at upper right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Fine-line guilloche underprint on both sides; anti-transfer overprint legend on reverse. |
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| Comments |
Vneshtorgbank's Foreign Exchange Certificates were a Soviet parallel currency — a mechanism for capturing hard currency earnings and tourist spending without exposing ordinary roubles to convertibility pressure. The series came in two streams: one backed by "socialist" currencies (the yellow-stripe notes), one backed by convertible Western currencies (the blue-stripe notes). P-FX84 belongs to the latter category, denominated for a sum that no ordinary Soviet wage earner would handle in a year.
These certificates circulated exclusively in Beryozka shops, where imported goods and scarce domestic items were available only to those with access to hard currency earnings — diplomats, sailors, licensed foreign workers. Possession by an ordinary Soviet citizen without documented entitlement was legally precarious.