I just received a 1964 CCCP 1 ruble coin that I purchased on ebay.com, and it got me thinking. Is my coin legal tender in any of the former Soviet republics? If not, when did Soviet Union coins cease to be legal tender in, say, Russia or Lithuania? If they are legal tender, are they still found in circulation today?
Right, for two reasons. First, the Baltic countries for examples were eager to replace the USSR money with their own. Since you mentioned Lithuania: They replaced the ruble with an interim currency named talonas (at a 1-1 exchange rate) in 1992. About one year later they had a 100-1 currency reform: 100 talonų became 1 litas. In Russia it may not so much have been the wish to do away with old money; I don't know. But there are very practical reasons why your 1 ruble coin from 1964 is practically worthless: Sixteen years ago, in Jan-1998, a new ruble was introduced, at a 1000-1 rate. So 1 old ruble would today be 0.1 kopeck, or 0.001 ruble. And since it takes about 45 rubles to buy €1, and 33 rubles to buy $1 ... Christian
No - the hyperinflation in 1991 - 1992 caused the ruble to be essentially worthless. Most countries have issued coins within the next couple of years. More information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_ruble#Replacement_currencies_in_the_former_Soviet_republics Don't be mistaken that early Soviet rubles are worthless - some of the normal circulating ruble coins (NOT commemorative coins) in particular 1965 to 1975 can be surprisingly difficult to find. Some years are sold for more than 20 to 50 dollars or more. And then you have some ruble coins that have wrong edge which are worth significantly more etc.
We used Soviet coins legal until 1992. Because a first coins of the independent Russian Federation were released at 1992. I saw first Russian coins at autmn of 1992.
Siberian Man: That's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for, and since you lived in the USSR I'll take your word as gold. Thank you.
