500 Roubles - Perforated North Russia - Chaikovskiy Government

The Provisional Government of the Northern Region — usually called the Chaikovskiy Government after its chairman, the veteran Socialist-Revolutionary Nikolai Chaikovskiy — was established at Arkhangelsk in August 1918 under Allied occupation following the British-led intervention. This 500-rouble note belongs to a series adapted from existing Imperial or Provisional Government stock by means of a distinguishing perforation, a quick solution to the administrative problem of differentiating circulating currency in a region cut off from Bolshevik-controlled territory.

The perforation was the entire security measure — no new printing, just a mechanical cancellation-and-authorization in one step. When the Allies withdrew and the White northern front collapsed in early 1920, the government dissolved, and most of its currency became worthless within weeks.