The first coins issued in present-day Russia were minted by Greek colonies on the Black Sea in the fifth century BC. Roman coins were issued from the first century BC on. The Bosporan kings also issued coins similar to those of Rome up until the reign of King Rhescuporis VI (304-342). During early medieval times, Islamic silver dirhems reached the area around Kiev and ultimately the Baltic regions.
The rulers of Kiev issued their own coins, based upon those of Byzantium, beginning with the reign of Vladmir I (978-1015). Both gold Zlatnik (equivalent to the Byzantine nomisma) and silver srebrenik were issued. No coins were issued in Russia from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, and silver ingots (known as grivnas), jewelry and clipped coins acted as media of exchange.
In the late fourteenth century, Russian principalities began issuing silver denga equal to 1/200th of a ruble. Under Ivan III (1462-1505), the coinage of the Principality of Moscow became the principal currency in Russia, though the values of coins varied with dengi from Pskov and Novgorod equal to two Muscovite dengi.
The Russian Tsardom was established on January 16, 1547 under Ivan IV the Terrible. He unified the coinage system, making the silver kopek, equal to 2 dengi, the basis of the system. In the 1600s, talers began circulating in Russia and in 1654 Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued talers restruck as silver rubles equal to 100 kopeks. Peter the Great transformed Russian coinage, expelling foreign coins and introducing machine-manufactured coinage. Russian coinage remained basically unchanged until the fall of Russian Tsars.
Russia reformed the Ruble (RUEI) under Elizabeth on November 23, 1755, setting 1 Gold Imperial equal to 10 Silver Rubles or 1000 Copper Kopeks. Paper Assignatzia (RUEA-Ruble-Banco) also circulated, though usually at a discount to specie money. The monetary system was reformed on July 1, 1839 with 1 Silver Ruble (RUES) set equal to 3.5 Ruble Assignatzia (RUEA). Credit Ruble Banknotes (RUEP) replaced the Ruble Assignatzia on June 1, 1843. Russia went on the Gold Standard on January 3, 1897 and introduced the Gold Ruble (RUER), which was used until the outbreak of World War I.
The Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RUF) was established on January 28, 1918, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SUR) was established on December 30, 1922, including Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia and Transcaucasia. The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 25, 1991, when The Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic became the Russian Federation (RUS).
During the Russian Civil War, many of the regions within the former Russian Empire formed states that were eventually incorporated them into the Soviet Union. Some of these states, such as the Ukraine, became Soviet Republics and independent nations after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Others, such as the Far Eastern Republic, Khiva, or Bukhara, were incorporated into the Russian S.F.S.R. (RSFSR) or other Republics and did not reemerge after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. States such as Khiva and Bukhara, which had some type of formal existence before the Russian Civil War, are treated separately, but states such as the Far Eastern Republic, which never existed as separate entities before or after the Russian Civil War, are discussed here.
After the Revolution, the Soviets began issuing paper Rubles, often referred to as the Ruble Sovnazki (RUFS), which lead to a huge inflation. The first currency reform occurred on January 1, 1922 when the Ruble of 1922 (RUFR) replaced the Ruble Sovnazki of 1921 at 1 Ruble of 1922 equal to 10,000 Ruble Sovnazki. On October 22, 1922, the 1923 Ruble (SUB) replaced the 1922 Ruble at the rate of 1 1923 Ruble equal to 100 Rubles of 1922. The Chervonetz (SUC) was introduced on December 27, 1922, which was backed 25% by gold, and eventually replaced the Ruble Sovnazki as the unit of account.
The Gold Ruble (SUG) was introduced on March 7, 1924 equal to 1/10 Chervonetz and 50,000 Rubles of 1923. A New Ruble (SUN) replaced the Gold Ruble on December 29, 1947 at the rate of 1 New Ruble equal to 10 Gold Rubles. On January 1, 1961, the Hard Ruble (SUR) replaced the New Ruble at the rate of 1 Hard Ruble equal to 10 New Rubles.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia replaced the Soviet Ruble with the Russian Ruble (RUR) at par. On 24 July 1993, Russia announced that Soviet and Russian notes issued before 1993 would become invalid as of 26 July. In Russia, the period for exchanging notes issued before 1993 lasted until 31 August 1993. Russia's demonetization of notes issued before 1993 notes marked the end of attempts to keep the former USSR largely intact as a ruble zone. In some former Soviet republics, Soviet and Russian notes issued before 1993 remained legal tender for a time even though they had ceased to be legal tender in Russia.
The inflation that followed led to the need to introduce a New Ruble (RUB) at the rate of 1 New Ruble equal to 1000 old Rubles. Hence, one of the new Russian Rubles is worth 5 quadrillion (5,000,000,000,000,000) Tsarist gold Rubles. The Ruble is divisible into 100 Kopeks, and has been issued by the State Treasury and by the State Bank (Gosbank).
The Far Eastern Republic issued Ruble (DBRR) banknotes while it existed. The North Russian Government, issued Ruble banknotes (RUNR) that were valued at the rate of 40 Rubles equal to 1 Pound Sterling. These notes were backed by a currency board installed by John Maynard Keynes. Numerous other entities within Russia issued banknotes during the Russian Civil War, though all of the notes were tied to the Soviet Ruble and lacked an independent existence.
The Russian Autonomous Republic of Tatarstan has issued Shamil banknotes (RUTS), equal to 100 Rubles, but these notes are not convertible into other currencies. Ichkeria (Chechnya Republic) reportedly planned to issue banknotes denominated in Nakhar from the National Bank of the Republic of Ichkeria, but never did so. |
