Featured The Hidden Secrets of the Russian 1898 1 Rouble Banknote

Discussion in 'Paper Money' started by Rhino89, Apr 6, 2019.

  1. Rhino89

    Rhino89 "Roubles"

    In light of the great articles posted here about various numismatic topics, I thought I would do my part to contribute in my area of collecting: Banknotes of the Russian Empire, Russian Provisional Government, and the Soviet Union. In the span of only 5 years, Russians witnessed the deposition of the royal family that ruled the Russian Empire for 300 years, a brief post-imperial Provisional Government, a brutal civil war, the formation of a Russian Socialist Republic, and the joining of multiple socialist republics into a massive Soviet Union that would collapse 70 years later. As a collector, I’ve always been fascinated by the way that this chaotic history was captured in the country’s banknotes. The regimes and people of these times are long gone, but the banknotes they created and circulated are left behind to us as historical relics.

    My first piece in a series of posts (for those who find it interesting, or for those future collectors who find this page in pursuit of knowledge) focuses on the 1898 1 Gold Rouble banknote, a banknote that silently carries a number of secrets that the average collector is unaware of. What if I told you that the Pick catalog is incomplete? What if I told you that grading services assign it misleading details in holder after holder? What if I told you that I’ve seen numismatic letters of authenticity that were completely wrong? Today I hope to share with you all the knowledge that has been locked away in Russian-language resources for the past century. Let’s take a walk through the history of a banknote issued by 3 different governments over its lifetime between 1898 and 1922.

    6 Digit Shipov.jpg
    Back.jpg

    Between 1895 and 1897, the Russian Empire converted its economy from a dual metal system (where banknotes were exchangeable for silver or gold) to a gold standard (where banknotes were exchangeable for gold alone). This initiative led to the creation of the 1898 1 Gold Rouble banknote, a new note that was part of the Empire’s new “1898-1899” series (along with other denominations like 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 Roubles) where every Rouble was exchangeable for 17.424 “doles” of pure gold.

    This is where this note begins to hold secrets… Like the fact that the year it was printed or issued is not always 1898. Or the fact that it may not have been printed by the Russian Empire at all, and instead printed by the Provisional Government or even the first Russian Socialist Republic, RSFSR. How can this be?

    Imagine the US $1 banknote for a minute. Pretend its design never changed at all over the course of a century, and strip away the printed issue year from it forever. How would you know when it was printed? You would probably look at the signature of the Treasury Secretary and see what year the secretary was in office, right?

    This is where we reveal the first secret of the 1898 1 Rouble banknote: all the notes were printed between 1898 and 1918, but they all carry the date “1898” because this is the year the design was first printed. In fact, the note was only sent to banks across the Russian Empire to be put into circulation in the year 1900. The real way to date an 1898 1 Rouble is to look at the signature of the secretary on the note, which could be one of the 4 secretaries who served between 1898 and 1917:

    Pleske.jpg Pleske (1898-1903)

    Timashev.jpg

    Timashev (1903-1909)

    Konshin.png
    Konshin (1910-1914)
    Shipov.jpg
    Shipov (1914-1917)

    So as an example, if you come across an 1898 1 Rouble note with a Pleske signature, it was printed between 1898 and 1903 and was issued by the Russian Empire. If you come across one signed by Konshin, it was printed between 1910 and 1914 and was also issued by the Russian Empire.

    But if you come across one with a Shipov signature, we hit the next secret: A 6-digit serial number versus a 1, 2, or 3 digit serial number mean very different things historically for the Shipov notes. Let’s take a walk through history in Mr. Shipov’s shoes:

    Shipov served as a secretary between 1914 and 1917 under Czar Nicholas II, issuing banknotes under the government of the Russian Empire. But in 1914, Russia enters World War I. As the war dragged on, the Russian government needed more cash, regular Russians started hoarding gold and silver during these turbulent times, and inflation started running rampant. The Russian Empire began printing more and more banknotes - ones that were not secured by gold. In December of 1915, with Shipov at the helm at the State Bank, the Russian Empire announced a revised design to the “1898 Rouble”: effective immediately, the appearance of the “1898” Rouble would remain identical, but a simplified 1, 2, or 3 digit “serial number” seen here would now be used instead of the old 6-digit serial number seen at the very top of this post:

    3 Digit Shipov.jpg

    As the Bank’s presses pumped out millions of new Roubles, an actual serial number of one note lost its importance. Instead, up to 1 million of 1 Rouble notes were printed at a time under each “series” number. Ever come across two “1898 Rouble” notes that have the same 1, 2, or 3-digit number? They were printed together in one series, along with up to a million other identical copies. This is sometimes referred to as a “1898/1915” note.

    But in March of 1917, Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne and the Provisional Government took over. Shipov stayed on board at the State Bank during the Provisional Government’s reign. In 1917, the Provisional Government continued printing the same notes that the Empire started issuing a couple years ago in 1915 with the shortened serial number while the Provisional Government could work on its own designs.

    But the Provisional Government was short-lived, surviving only 8 months. During the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks (“Soviets”, “Communists”) took over and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was born. In November of 1917, they took over the State Bank after a brief struggle with Shipov and seized control of the Bank’s funds and printing capabilities. While the Soviets worked on the designs of their own new notes, they also continued issuing the shortened-serial “1898” 1 Rouble notes that were printed by the Empire and the Provisional Government before them since the end of 1915.

    So how do you know which government issued which 3-digit serial number? Series numbers 1-127 are Imperial issues, printed in the years 1915 and 1916. Series 128-310 are Provisional Government issues, printed briefly in early 1917 to late 1917. And 311-524 are Soviet issues, printed from the end of 1917 to 1919 (after 1919, the Soviets stopped printing this denomination). Regardless of the issuing government, all of these 1 Rouble notes remained legal tender until October 1st, 1922.

    From a collecting standpoint, now we see that there are actually 6 issues to collect within this series (1898-1903, 1903-1909, 1910-1914, 1915/1916 Imperial, 1917 Provisional, 1917-1919 Soviet), each issue capturing a different historical timeframe. Some collectors take it to the next level by also collecting the dozens of different “cashiers” (second signature below the secretary), but we’ll keep it simple here. And if you’ve made it down this far reading hopefully you, too, can appreciate the secrets and complexity hidden in an old, simple-looking “1898” banknote.
     
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  3. SteveInTampa

    SteveInTampa Always Learning

    Thanks @Rhino89, interesting article.

    How large were these notes, physically ?
     
  4. Rhino89

    Rhino89 "Roubles"

    They are all 5.94" x 3.5". Almost an inch taller than a US $1, and almost a quarter inch narrower.
     
    Evan Saltis likes this.
  5. stlnats

    stlnats Active Member

    Very nice, informative and useful writeup. I knew these were printed over a number of years and very roughly how the sigs worked, but not to this level of detail which is very helpful. Also not at all aware of the significance of the shorter serials. Thanks for taking the time to work this up and share it!
     
  6. mpcusa

    mpcusa "Official C.T. TROLL SWEEPER"

    Looks like an article for the front Page :)
     
  7. Rhino89

    Rhino89 "Roubles"

    No problem, happy to contribute - there's a real scarcity as far as English resources for anyone interested in collecting Russia. Also, I have to correct my own post (typing slower than I was thinking): there are actually 7 varieties to collect.
    -Pleske 1898 to 1903
    -Timashev 1903 to 1909
    -Konshin 1910 to 1914
    -Shipov 1914 to December 1915 6-digits
    -Shipov Dec 1915 to very early 1917 3-digit Imperial Issue
    -Shipov Early 1917 to Oct/Nov 1917 (Provisional Government 3-digit)
    -Shipov Late 1917 to 1919 (Soviet/RSFSR 3-digit)
     
  8. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    Very nice article! Good hook at the top to draw us in. I have a few of the later Russian banknotes, which I picked up for the beauty of their designs, but I know little about them. I look forward to reading more!
     
  9. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Amazing article!

    A question - how much does 17.424 "doles" weigh?
     
    Evan Saltis likes this.
  10. Dave M

    Dave M Francophiliac

    Interesting article, thanks for writing it!
     
  11. Rhino89

    Rhino89 "Roubles"

    Ohhh, are you ready for this? The math is going to get trippy.

    The "dolya" (or an auto-corrected "dole") is an antiquated Russian unit of measure. In the old days, 96 dolyas made up 1 "zolotnik". This unit of measure is what old Russian currency (whether banknotes or the rims/faces of coins) used to use.

    After the monetary reform introduced the paper 1898 1 gold Rouble, the 15 Rouble Gold coins contained 0.3734 troy oz gold (11.61 grams of pure gold in a 90% gold coin weighing 12.9039 grams). This means...

    0.3734 troy oz / 15 = 0.02489 troy oz gold in 1 Imperial Rouble
    And if 1 Rouble = 17.424 dolyas, then...
    17.424 dolya = 0.02489 troy oz...
    which means a single dolya = 0.001429 troy oz (also equal to 0.0444 grams per dolya)

    So at today's gold price of $1305/oz, it means 1 dolya = $1.86. So the gold that an imperial gold rouble would get you at the State Bank (0.02489 troy oz) would be worth $32.49.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2019
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  12. rooman9

    rooman9 Lovin Shiny Things

    Awesome write up. One I enjoyed reading. I think I have a stack of these lying around. Now I have to date them!
    Edit: found them!
    image.jpg
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2019
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  13. Milesofwho

    Milesofwho Omnivorous collector

    Thank you for specifying the series notes for the non-imperial notes! I find this area of history interesting, mainly because of the Provisional Government.
     
  14. Rhino89

    Rhino89 "Roubles"

    I'll be putting together a future post about the Provisional Government's notes as well, 1917/1918 was an even more chaotic year... and in an interesting twist, the American Bank Note Company actually plays a part in the story. But that's for another time :)
     
  15. Terry Nield

    Terry Nield Member

    To Rhino89 & other Coin Talk members:

    Your article on Russian Imperial Banknotes was well written and researched. While I'm somewhat new to Coin Talk I have collected coins and banknotes off and on for sometime. Recently I have got reinterested in the Tsarist Russian banknotes. I especially like the look of some of the larger sized notes such as the 1912 500 Ruble issue.

    To echo some of your words, the issue on these notes on the market is often confusing, misleading and occasionally fraudulent. Nevertheless there are many vendors who are honest but many are not always knowledgeable. Too often they do not provide the names of the Russian bank administrators and cashiers that appear on the notes. Sometimes they are incorrect about signatures as well. Compounding this confusing state of affairs is the Russian Cyrillic alphabet--especially when written in cursive as is the case of the signatures. Quiet honestly I cannot make out much of the actual name from many signatures. I have also searched for lists of these names but at best they are incomplete or rare (thus hard to locate). Going back to my previous words, it is tricky trying to match a signature with a name written in either Latin or Cyrillic lettering.

    However I have managed to make out many of them. I found if one verifies a name and signature across multiple sales one can ascertain with a reasonable amount accuracy what matches what. This leads to my next discussion. As I am reasonably apt with image processing apps, I have begun to make a table of the Administrators and Cashiers to match with an image taken from images of banknotes on line. I have removed all of the background to leave only the actual signature on a white ground. I have also added the Cyrillic version of the names. Finally I have put the Pick # of notes with a particular combination of signatures. This is in a Word document. Currently, the file is about 15MB in size. A couple of caveats, first I will not say that the file is complete (have a number signatures that I cannot assign a name to, and would appreciate help with these), and there may be the odd error, not many and definitely not intentional. Certainly it is a work in progress.

    If you think that Coin Talk members would be interested and would find this table helpful, I will attempt to upload it(advise me if it is small enough to upload). I will say that these Russian banknotes are still a bargain and will take time to try and put together a complete series. The older notes are much scarcer and more expensive than 1898 and later. I do not believe that this price situation will last indefinitely into the future.
     
  16. Kashmir Pulaski

    Kashmir Pulaski Well-Known Member

    These are old tissue-thin notes with still yet vivid colors. I got them on the cheap because the dealer likes me.

    159780B5-D2A0-42FA-B74B-4FBE3B2D55F0.jpeg BE1A8740-9876-4953-A911-5C6EF24734B9.jpeg B4A09C5E-2C23-4741-AECB-81F990AFE018.jpeg D6A148FA-E835-4C79-9993-EC2F0111A0A7.jpeg 945002DF-20A6-450C-A804-47BF6F737369.jpeg 7CF8BAFF-E1C4-48C3-B40C-FE5C9B18B809_1_201_a.jpeg
     
  17. gxseries

    gxseries Coin Collector

    Oh wow! I normally don't read banknotes pages but I do have a few of these stashed somewhere.

    This is really neat! Excellent write up and thanks for putting in the effort to make it very descriptive!
     
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