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| Issuer | Russian State Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5000 Roubles (5000 Рублей) |
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| Obverse description | The note is a 5% short-term State Treasury obligation. The central text, printed in Cyrillic, states that the bearer will be paid five thousand roubles at the State Bank and its offices on 1 May 1918. The denomination '5000' appears in large numerals at left within a guilloche underprint, with the date 'Петроград, 1 Мая 1917 г.' and manuscript signatures of the Director of the State Treasury Department and the Chief Accountant at centre-right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5% краткосрочное обязательство Государственного Казначейства Предъявителю сего уплачивается 1 Мая 1918 года пять тысяч рублей в Государственном Банке и его Конторах и Отделениях. Директора Департамента Государственного Казначейства Начальника Бухгалтерского Отдела Бухгалтер Петроград, 1 Мая 1917 г. Руб. 5000. |
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| Comments |
This is one of the "Duma money" issues — short-term treasury obligations that functioned as banknotes during the Provisional Government period following the February Revolution. The Kerensky government, desperately short of hard currency and printing capacity, authorized a series of these Kazначейские знаки to keep the economy from seizing up entirely. They circulated alongside Romanov-era Imperial notes, which the Provisional Government never withdrew, producing a chaotic monetary environment that the Bolsheviks inherited in October.
The 5,000 Rouble denomination was among the highest issued in this run — a reflection of the accelerating inflation already grinding through the Russian economy before the Civil War made things genuinely catastrophic.