Soviet ruble
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| Soviet ruble Советский рубль (Russian) | |||||
| |||||
| ISO 4217 Code | SUR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User(s) | Soviet Union | ||||
| Subunit | |||||
| 1/100 | kopek (копейка) | ||||
| Symbol | руб | ||||
| kopek (копейка) | к | ||||
| Plural | rublya (gen. sing.), rubley (gen. pl.) | ||||
| kopek (копейка) | kopeyki (gen. sing.), kopeyek (gen. pl.) | ||||
| Coins | 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 kopeks, 1, 5, 10 rubles | ||||
| Banknotes | 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 rubles | ||||
| Central bank | State Bank of the Soviet Union | ||||
| Printer | Goznak | ||||
| Website | www.goznak.ru | ||||
| Mint | Leningrad 1921-1991 (temporarily moved to Krasnokamsk 1941-1946), Moscow 1982-1991 | ||||
| This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |||||
The ruble or rouble (Russian: рубль; see below for other Soviet languages) was the currency of the Soviet Union. One ruble is divided into 100 kopeks, kopecks, or copecks (Russian: копе́йка, plural копе́йки).
Contents |
[edit] Etymology
The word "ruble" is derived from the Slavic verb рубить, rubit, i.e., to chop. Historically, "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name.
[edit] Ruble in the Soviet Union
The Soviet currency had its own name in all languages of the Soviet Union, sometimes quite different from its Russian designation. All banknotes had the currency name and their nominal printed in the languages of every Soviet Republic. This naming is preserved in modern Russia; for example: Tatar for ruble and kopek are sum and tien. The current names of several currencies of Central Asia are simply the local names of the ruble.
The name of the currency in the official languages of the 15 republics, in the order they appeared in the banknotes:
| Language | In local language | Transliteration | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ruble | kopek | ruble | kopek | |
| Russian | рубль | копейка | rubl’ | kopeika |
| Ukrainian | карбованець | копійка | karbovanets’ | kopiyka |
| Belarusian | рубель | капейка | rubyel’ | kapeika |
| Uzbek | сўм | тийин | so'm' | tiyin |
| Kazakh | сом | тиын | som | tiyn |
| Georgian | მანეთი | manati | ||
| Azerbaijani | манат | гəпик | manat | qəpik |
| Lithuanian | rublis | kapeika | — | — |
| Moldavian | рублэ | копейкэ | rublă | copeică |
| Latvian | rublis | kapeika | — | — |
| Kyrgyz | сом | тыйн | som | tyin |
| Tajik | сўм | sum | ||
| Armenian | ռուբլի | կոպեկ | roubli | kopek |
| Turkmen | манат | manat | ||
| Estonian | rubla | kopikas | — | — |
Note that the script for Uzbek, Azerbaijani, Moldavian, and Turkmen have switched from Cyrillic to Latin some time around the breakup of the Soviet Union.
[edit] Historical Soviet rubles
[edit] First Soviet ruble
The first ruble issued for the Socialist government was a preliminary issue still based on the previous issue of the ruble prior to the Russian revolution of 1917. They are all in banknote form and started their issue in 1919. At this time other issues were made by the white Russian government and other governing bodies. Denominations are as follows: 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 60, 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000, 100,000. Short term treasury certificate were also issued to supplement banknote issue in 1 million, 5 million, 10 million rubles. These issue was printed in various fashions, as inflation crept up the security features were few and some were printed on one side, as was the case for the German inflationary notes.
[edit] Second Soviet ruble, January 1 1922 - December 31 1922
In 1922, the first of several redenominations took place, at a rate of 1 "new" ruble for 10,000 "old" rubles. The chervonets (червонец) was also introduced in 1922.
[edit] Third Soviet ruble, January 1 1923 - March 6 1924
A second redenomination took place in 1923, at a rate of 100 to 1. Again, only paper money was issued. During the lifetime of this currency, the first money of the Soviet Union was issued.
[edit] Fourth (Gold) Soviet ruble, March 7 1924 - 1947
A third redenomination in 1924 introduced the "gold" ruble at a value of 50,000 rubles of the previous issue. This reform also saw the ruble linked to the chervonets, at a value of 10 rubles. Coins began to be issued again in 1924, whilst paper money was issued in rubles for values below 10 rubles and in chervonets for higher denominations.
[edit] Fifth Soviet ruble, 1947 - 1961
Following World War II, the Soviet government implemented a confiscatory redenomination of the currency to reduce the amount of money in circulation. This only affected the paper money. Old rubles were revalued at one tenth of their face value.
[edit] Sixth Soviet ruble, 1961 - 1991
The 1961 redenomination was a repeat of the 1947 reform, with the same terms applying. The Soviet ruble of 1961 was formally equal to 0.987412 gram of gold, but the exchange for gold was never available to the general public. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the ruble remained the currency of the Russian Federation.
[edit] Replacement currencies in the former Soviet republics
Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, local currencies were introduced in the newly independent states. Most of the new economies were weak and hence all of the currencies have undergone significant reforms since launch that included change of names and denominations. For the details on individual currencies developments and current state of affairs please see the corresponding articles.
| Country | New currency | Conversion rate from ruble | Date introduced | Obliged to join euro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armenia | Dram | 200 | 22 November 1993 | No |
| Azerbaijan | Manat | 10 Soviet rubles 5,000 old manat | 15 August 1992 1 January 2006 | No |
| Belarus | Ruble | 10 1,000 old rubles | May, 1992 2000 | No |
| Estonia | Kroon | 10 | 20 June 1992 | Yes |
| Georgia | Kupon lari Lari | 1 1,000,000 kupon lari | 5 April 1993 2 October 1995 | No |
| Kazakhstan | Tenge | 500 | 15 November 1993 | No |
| Kyrgyzstan | Som | 200 | 10 May 1993 | No |
| Latvia | Rublis Lats | 1 200 rubles | 7 May 1992 1993 | Yes |
| Lithuania | Talonas Litas | 1 100 talonai | August, 1991 25 June 1993 | Yes |
| Moldova, excl. Transnistria 1 | Cupon Leu | 1 1,000 cuponi | 1992 29 November 1993 | No |
| Russia | Ruble | 1 1,000 old rubles | 1992 1 January 1998 | No |
| Transnistria | Ruble | 1 1,000,000 old rubles | 1994 2000 | No |
| Tajikistan | Ruble Somoni | 100 1,000 rubles | 10 May 1995 30 October 2000 | No |
| Turkmenistan | Manat | 500 | 1 November 1993 | No |
| Ukraine | Karbovanets Hryvnia | 1 Soviet ruble 100,000 karbovantsiv | 10 January 1992 2 September 1996 | No |
| Uzbekistan | Som | 1 1,000 old som | 15 November 1993 1 July 1994 | No |
[edit] Remark
- Transnistria is an internationally unrecognized country.
[edit] External links
- Chapter 4 The Struggle for Productivity of Labor, associated with the issuence of the ruble
- A commercial site with some relevant historical information
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