The top one is in Cyrillic characters, so it is either Russian, or one of the other non-Muslim members of the former Soviet Union. The bottom one was issued by the People's Bank of China in Beijing. 1 Jiao = 10 fen (cents).
Fifty rubles from Belarus. (I knew those college courses in Russian would be good for something someday.... )
It looks more Lithuania to me since the Guy on the horse (called the "White Knight") is the coat of arms of Lithuania.
The first one with the Great Big Bear reminds me of my 500 piastre notes from Vietnam which have a Tiger on them.
That may be, but I'm inclined to stick with Belarus because Numbers actually read the legends on the note The same horseman appears on at least seven other Belarus notes.
they ARE all Belarus. if you need them, i can look up the pick numbers, or just click the link below and check out my Belarus page
i am very sorry! i missed the second note in the OP. The first note IS Belarus as already established. The second note is Chinese. A 1 Jiao note dated 1980 Pick#-881
