The ruble is not just a monetary unit, but part of Russia’s rich history, dating back more than 700 years. Its origin and evolution are closely related to the development of the Russian state and reflect many important historical events. We offer you a selection of interesting facts about this one of the world’s oldest currencies.
The ruble is the second oldest national currency in the world after the British pound sterling. It traces its history back to the XIII century, while the monetary units of most other countries appeared much later and repeatedly changed their names.
Initially, the main monetary and weight unit in Russia was the hryvnia, a silver ingot weighing about 200 grams. In the XIII century, smaller parts began to be cut out of the hryvnia — rubles and half a ruble (half a ruble). The name «ruble» just came from the word «chop».
In addition to bullion, foreign coins also circulated in Russia — for example, Arab dirhams and European denarii. They came to Russian lands through international trade. Russia began its own coinage only at the end of the XIV century under Dmitry Donskoy.
An important milestone in the history of the ruble was the monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya, the mother of Ivan the Terrible, in 1535-1538. She introduced a single silver coin (kopeck) for the whole country weighing about 0.68 g, as well as coins in 1/2 (half), 1/4 (quarter) and 2 (money) kopecks. The penny itself was so named because it depicted a horseman with a spear.
In 1654, large silver coins in denominations of one ruble were minted for the first time. At first, they were made from foreign thalers with a double-headed eagle embossed on top of the original image. Such rubles were called «efimki» (from the German Joachimsthaler). Later, under Peter I, rubles were already minted entirely from Russian silver.
In the XVII century, Russia faced inflation for the first time due to the issuance of a large amount of copper money. This led to the «copper riot» of 1662 in Moscow. The population did not like that taxes were required to be paid in silver, and salaries were given out in devalued copper.
Under Peter I, since 1704, Russia began to regularly issue its own silver rubles weighing about 28 g, as well as copper coins. The weight of the ruble was later reduced to 18 g (from 1764) and remained so until the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1769, Catherine II introduced the first paper rubles — banknotes. At first, they could be freely exchanged for silver, but later the exchange was discontinued, and banknotes became an independent means of payment.
The Konstantinovsky ruble of 1825 became the heaviest in history — it weighed 20.73 g of pure silver. This ruble was intended for the coronation of Konstantin Pavlovich, but he abdicated in favor of Nicholas I. The Konstantinovsky ruble never entered circulation, becoming a very rare collectible coin.
The design of modern ruble coins, which depict a double-headed eagle, dates back to coins from the time of Ivan III at the end of the XV century. Thus, there is a centuries-old historical continuity in the design of the ruble.
In the XVIII century, a significant part of the monetary circulation in Russia was made up of copper coins. By the way, the Sestroretsk ruble of 1771 became the largest coin of that time. This giant copper coin had a diameter of 76 mm, a thickness of 35 mm and a weight of more than 1 kg!
In 1825, a unique incident occurred. After the death of Alexander I, his brother Konstantin was to ascend the throne, and the St. Petersburg Mint had already minted a batch of rubles with his portrait. But Constantine unexpectedly gave up the throne in favor of another brother, Nicholas. As a result, the «Konstantinovsky rubles» never entered circulation, becoming one of the rarest and most expensive coins in the history of Russia.
The first paper money (banknotes) appeared in Russia in 1769 under Catherine II. It is curious that in size (about 18×23 cm) they looked more like a sheet of paper than the bills we are familiar with. The denominations of the first banknotes were 25, 50, 75 and 100 rubles.
Meanwhile, the Russian financial system in the late XVIII — early XIX century suffered from inflation due to excessive issuance of banknotes. If under Catherine II more than 60 kopecks in silver were given for a paper ruble, then after the war of 1812 its value collapsed to 20 kopecks. Until the 1840s, paper and silver rubles, which had different purchasing power, circulated in parallel in the country.
The Minister of Finance, E.F. Kankrin, decisively ended inflation by establishing in 1843 the mandatory exchange of banknotes for silver at a fixed exchange rate (1:3.5 rubles). Such a system («silver monometallism») successfully operated until the Crimean War of 1853-56.
At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, Finance Minister S.Y. Witte carried out monetary reform in Russia by introducing the gold standard of the ruble. Paper money was freely exchanged for gold coins at the rate of 1:1. Curiously, in order to please the Slavophile tastes of Nicholas II, Witte even proposed renaming the ruble to «rus», but this idea did not take root.
For centuries, the ruble has maintained a fairly high purchasing power. So, in the XVIII century, for 1 kopeck you could buy a chicken, and for 3 rubles — a whole hut. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a cow cost about 25 rubles, and a village house cost 100 rubles.
After the October Revolution of 1917, Russia experienced several waves of hyperinflation. The ruble was first replaced by «sovznaki», and then in 1922-24. denomination was carried out in the ratio of 1:50,000. Soviet paper chervonets, which appeared in 1922, were partially provided with gold and were used even abroad.
In 1947, another monetary reform was carried out. It was of a confiscatory nature — old money was exchanged for new ones with significant restrictions. At the same time, ration cards were canceled and retail prices were reduced. The 1947 ruble remained in circulation for 40 years until perestroika.
In the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, Russia switched to a market economy. Already in 1993, the ruble became officially convertible for current transactions. The new Russian coins first depicted St. George the Victorious, and later returned to the historical symbol — the double-headed eagle.
In the early years of Soviet rule, the country was in financial chaos. In addition to the royal money and sovznaks issued by the Soviet government, regional currencies were in circulation — kerenki, kolchakovki, Siberian rubles, Far Eastern paper bonds and even… Postage stamps! Sometimes the banknotes took the most bizarre forms. So, in Yakutia, instead of change money, wine labels were used indicating the nominal value (madeira — 1 ruble, cahors — 10 rubles, port — 25 rubles).
The hyperinflation of the first years of Soviet power gave rise to such neologisms as «lemon» (1 million rubles), and later «watermelon» (1 billion). By 1921, 44,000 rubles were given in sovznaks for one pre-war penny. It was possible to put an end to the depreciation of the ruble only during the monetary reform of 1922-1924, when a denomination was carried out in the ratio of 1:50,000 and a solid Soviet currency was introduced — the chervonets, partially backed by gold.
For the next half century, the Soviet ruble was one of the most stable currencies in the world. It had an official gold content (in the 1950s — 0.2222168 g of gold), although in practice there was no gold standard in the USSR. The devaluation of the ruble was carried out only in 1961 (10 times the dollar). At the same time, due to low prices, the ruble had a high purchasing power within the country.
A curious fact: the Solovetsky Monastery was depicted on a 500-ruble bill of the 1997 model, which was in circulation until 2010… but without crosses. The fact is that under Soviet rule, the infamous Solovetsky special purpose camp (ELEPHANT) was located on the site of the monastery. It turned out that modern Russian money unwittingly perpetuated the memory of the Gulag.
The collapse of the USSR in 1991 led to another period of hyperinflation. In order to stabilize the ruble, in 1998 a denomination was carried out in the ratio of 1:1000. The old banknotes were in circulation until 2002 in parallel with the new coins and banknotes.
Since 1992, the Bank of Russia has started minting new ruble coins. At first, they depicted St. George the Victorious, and since 2016, the main symbol has been the double-headed eagle, the coat of arms of the Russian Federation. It is noteworthy that the first coin with a double-headed eagle appeared in Russia under Ivan III at the end of the XV century. Thus, the centuries-old historical continuity is reflected in the design of the modern ruble.
Nowadays, the ruble is not only the official monetary unit of Russia, but also one of the symbols of the country. There are even peculiar «monuments to the ruble» in different cities of Russia. So, in Tomsk it is an enlarged copy of a 10-ruble coin in the form of a three-meter bronze disk. In Dimitrovgrad, the ruble is sculpted in the image of an epic knight with a sword and shield. And in Volgograd, a steel ruble painted in tricolor colors «weighs» 1.5 tons. All these art objects were opened in 2015-2018.
«Our ruble will not rust,» says a commemorative inscription on the Volgograd monument. Indeed, despite all the trials that have befallen the ruble over more than 700 years of its history, it retains its vitality and national identity.
