All that being said, does anybody know what i have here? I collected coins as a youth, but I know very little about currency.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The Future of the US Dollar
So I am cleaning, for it is good to clean, and in my effort to lessen the amount of junk I have, I stumbled upon some old Soviet (I think) currency, that no doubt is worthless, because, well, as the leftists in this nation are about to find out, a piece of paper is just a piece of paper unless you actually have some level of production behind it.
All that being said, does anybody know what i have here? I collected coins as a youth, but I know very little about currency.
All that being said, does anybody know what i have here? I collected coins as a youth, but I know very little about currency.
Looks like some Soviet rubles printed during the Russian Civil War.
ReplyDeleteI can read just enough Russian to recognize ruble, CCP (Soviet Socialist State) and a few other things like that. Printed by the Reds, not the Whites.
Find someone that speaks Russian for a full translation or try babelfish or a similar translator.
If I remember Monday, I'll take a copy of the images to work and see if some of the folks who speak Russian there can translate.
The bills say Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which according to Wikipedia predated the USSR, which was founded in 1922.
ReplyDeleteHey Cappy, they are all Russian Rubles...you probably guessed that. The two larger denominations, the 50 and 100K notes were the result of serious hyperinflation that Russia was experiencing. The other note, 25, is actually referred to as the "second ruble" the first of many revaluations. This series represented a 10000:1 revaluation.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to note, in 1918 Russia: "As soon as Lenin came to power, he passed a series of decrees to satisfy the immediate wants of the Russian people. These included giving land to the peasants, giving control of the factories to the workers, the introduction of 8-hour day, repudiation of foreign debts and secret treaties..." - along with dropping the gold standard...recipe for hyperinflation. Of course, the rest is history...let's hope the nouveaux Bolsheviks don't win this time.
The images are Ruble notes, except not from the Soviet Union, but actually from the Russian Federal Republic (it was issued by 'a state' rather than the federal government). Think about a 'California Dollar' as an analogy (THAT should be worth a blog post, Cap).
ReplyDeleteAre you showing views of the obverse and reverse or are these all separate notes?
ReplyDeleteThe ones dated 1921 say Russian Socialist Federation Soviet Republic. This would distinguish it from any White Russian currencies issued around the time of the revolution.
On January 1, 1922, they issued their second generation Ruble which replaced 10,000 old rubles with 1 new ruble. So you have first generation currency, my friend, albeit in the last year of their issuance and therefore likely the least rare.
The USSR was founded in December of 1922 so the third generation "Soviet Union" currency came out on January 1, 1923.
There was indeed a first generation 25 ruble note. If the 25 ruble note was dated 1921, that would put it prior to the revaluation. So in its own time the 25 ruble note would have had virtually no value.
Rarity determines collector value, so dating that note is important. Ironically, the hyperinflation would make the large denomination notes more abundant and the small denomination notes worthless in their own time and, hence, probably pretty rare today.
Think about it: if we had hyperinflation today and it soon cost $10,000 for a loaf of bread, what do you suppose would happen to all the $20 bills? They might all be burned for heating and cooking fuel or used for toilet paper. So take good care of that 25er until you can get it appraised.
The higher denomination notes are clearly indicative of the hyperinflation. Since 1921 was the last year of issuance, there are probably tons of these in circulation.
So what you have are old, nostalgic, historical and really cool collector pieces. I would value them for that reason only.
But I'm guessing - just guessing, that because of their prolific printing, they are not of extraordinary trading value to collectors. The 25 ruble note might be quite a bit more rare.
This is all speculation on my part based on economics, not on any knowledge of currency or collecting.
A glimpse of things to come.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it's time for me to see if I can whip up a good looking 5 Kabillion Dollar bill with That One's face on it.
You have fire kindling.
ReplyDeleteAww... That is so cute what the last anonymous said.
ReplyDeleteJust finished this piece of absurdity, thought I'd mention it since I said I was going to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe 5 Kabillion Dollar Note