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Russian ruble
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EtymologyAccording to the most popular version, the word "ruble" is derived from the Russian verb ????´??, rubit, meaning to chop. Historically, a "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot, hence the name.
Names of different denominationsIn the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, several coins had individual names:
The amount of 10 rubles (in either bill or coin) is sometimes informally referred to as a chervonets. Historically, it was the name for the first Russian 3-ruble gold coin issued for general circulation in 1701. The current meaning comes from Soviet golden chervonets (????´????? ??????´? ?????´???) issued in 1923 that was equivalent to the pre-revolution 10 gold rubles.
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Timeline
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1698 In an effort to move his people away from Asiatic customs, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards; All men except priests and peasants, are required to pay a tax of one hundred rubles a year and the commoners had to pay one kopek each
1998 Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confiden
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Encyclopedia
EtymologyAccording to the most popular version, the word "ruble" is derived from the Russian verb ????´??, rubit, meaning to chop. Historically, a "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot, hence the name.
Names of different denominationsIn the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, several coins had individual names:
- Ľ kopeck - polushka
- ˝ kopeck - denga or dénezhka
- 2 kopeck - semishnik (mostly obsolete by 20th century), dvúshka (20th century) or grosh
- 3 kopeck - altyn (mostly obsolete by the 1960s)
- 5 kopeck - pyaták
- 10 kopeck - grívennik
- 15 kopeck - pyatialtýnny (5 altyn; the usage lived longer than altyn)
- 20 kopeck - dvugrívenny (2 grivenniks)
- 25 kopeck - polupoltínnik (half poltínnik) or chetverták (from the Russian for Ľ)
- 50 kopeck - poltína or poltínnik
The amount of 10 rubles (in either bill or coin) is sometimes informally referred to as a chervonets. Historically, it was the name for the first Russian 3-ruble gold coin issued for general circulation in 1701. The current meaning comes from Soviet golden chervonets (????´????? ??????´? ?????´???) issued in 1923 that was equivalent to the pre-revolution 10 gold rubles. All these names are obsolete. The practice of using the old kopeck coin names for amounts in rubles is now not very common. In modern Russian slang only these names are used:
- 5 rubles - Pyatyórka (???????)
- 10 rubles - Chírik (??´???) or Desyátka (????´???) or Dichka (?????)
- 50 rubles - Poltínnik (?????´????) or Poltos (?????´?) or Poltákha (???????)
- 100 rubles - Stólnik (????????)
- 500 rubles - Pyatikhátka (??????´???), originally pyatikátka (??????´???)
- 1000 rubles - Shtúka (???´??) or Kosár (????´??)
- 500,000 rubles - Pol-limóna (???-????´??, a half of limon)
- 1,000,000 rubles - Limón (????´?)
The penultimate term derived from "???? ????" (five Catherines). Katya (????, Catherina) having been a slang name for the 100 ruble note in tsarist Russia, as the note had a picture of Catherine II on it.
Warning: Most of these definitions, i.e. Chirik, Poltos, Pyatikatka, and Kosar come from jail slang Fenya. It is a quite vulgar manner of speaking.
Currency Sign
A currency symbol was used for the ruble between the 16th century and the 18th century. The symbol consisted of the Russian letters "?" (rotated by 90° counter-clockwise) and "?" (written on top of it). The symbol was placed over the amount number to which belonged to. This symbol, however, fell into disuse during the 19th century onward.
A new symbol was not made during the final years of the Empire and through out the Soviet Union. The characters R and were instead used and are still used to this day, though they are not official
From July 1, 2007, the Central Bank of Russia has announced the establishment to decide on a symbol for the ruble. The bank will test 13 symbols for the ruble. This includes the symbol ?? (RR in Russian for Russian Ruble), which has received preliminary approval from the Central Bank. However, the people of Moscow has announced support for another tested symbol. A simple R with two horizontal strokes across the top (in comparison, similar to the Philippine peso sign). Other possible signs have entered for the vote hundreds of people from around the world. However, one symbol has been gaining national attention. A non-official symbol was introduced to the nation in August 2007 and is beginning to be used in stores across Russia. As rumoured by the Central Bank, the symbol used is based on a simple letter "?" (which is semi crossed below a horizontal stroke or two strokes). It is also mentioned that the sign is simple, similar to other currency signs (as shown similar to the Yen sign), represents the Russian language and it is similar to a letter.
History
First ruble, Antiquity - December 31 1921The ruble has been the Russian unit of currency for about 500 years. From 1710, the ruble was divided into 100 kopecks.
The amount of precious metal in a ruble varied over time. In a 1704 currency reform, Peter I standardized the ruble to 28 grams of silver. While ruble coins were silver, there were higher denominations minted of gold and platinum. By the end of the 18th century, the ruble was set to 4 zolotnik 21 dolya (almost exactly equal to 18 grams) of pure silver or 27 dolya (almost exactly equal to 1.2 grams) of pure gold, with a ratio of 15:1 for the values of the two metals. In 1828, platinum coins were introduced with 1 ruble equal to 77? dolya (3.451 grams).
On December 17, 1885, a new standard was adopted which did not change the silver ruble but reduced the gold content to 1.161 grams, pegging the gold ruble to the French franc at a rate of 1 ruble = 4 francs. This rate was revised in 1897 to 1 ruble = 2? francs (0.774 grams gold).
With the outbreak of the First World War, the gold standard peg was dropped and the ruble fell in value, suffering from hyperinflation in the early 1920s.
Second ruble, January 1, 1922 - December 31, 1922In 1922, the first of several redenominations took place, at a rate of 1 "new" ruble for 10,000 "old" rubles. The chervonets (????????) was also introduced in 1922.
Third ruble, January 1, 1923 - March 6, 1924A second redenomination took place in 1923, at a rate of 100 to 1. Again, only paper money was issued. During the lifetime of this currency, the first money of the Soviet Union was issued.
Fourth (Gold) ruble, March 7, 1924 - 1947A third redenomination in 1924 introduced the "gold" ruble at a value of 50,000 rubles of the previous issue. This reform also saw the ruble linked to the chervonets, at a value of 10 rubles. Coins began to be issued again in 1924, whilst paper money was issued in rubles for values below 10 rubles and in chervonets for higher denominations.
Fifth ruble, 1947 - 1961Following World War II, the Soviet government implemented a confiscatory redenomination of the currency to reduce the amount of money in circulation. This only affected the paper money. Old rubles were revalued at one tenth of their face value.
Seventh ruble, January 1, 1998 - The ruble was redenominated on January 1, 1998, with one new ruble equalling 1000 old rubles. The redenomination was a purely psychological step that did not solve the fundamental economic problems faced by the Russian economy at the time, and the currency was devalued in August 1998 following the Russian financial crisis. The ruble lost 70% of its value against the U.S. Dollar in the 6 months following this Russian financial crisis.
In November of 2004, the authorities of Dimitrovgrad erected a five-meter monument to the ruble.
CoinsFirst rubleAt the beginning of the 19th century, copper coins were issued for Ľ, ˝, 1, 2 and 5 kopecks, with silver 5, 10, 25 and 50 kopecks and 1 ruble and gold 5 and 10 rubles, although production of the 10 ruble coin ceased in 1806. Silver 20 kopecks were introduced in 1820, followed by copper 10 kopecks minted between 1830 and 1839, and copper 3 kopecks introduced in 1840. Between 1828 and 1845, platinum 3, 6 and 12 rubles were issued. In 1860, silver 15 kopecks were introduced, due to the use of this denomination (equal to 1 zloty) in Poland, whilst, in 1869, gold 3 rubles were introduced. In 1886, a new gold coinage was introduced consisting of 5 and 10 ruble coins. This was followed by another in 1897. In addition to smaller 5 and 10 ruble coins, 7˝ and 15 ruble coins were issued for a single year, as these were equal in size to the previous 5 and 10 ruble coins. The gold coinage was suspended in 1911, with the other denominations produced until the First World War.
Fourth, fifth and sixth rublesThe first coinage after Russian civil war was minted in 1921 with silver coins in denominations of 10, 15, 20 and 50 kopecks and 1 ruble. Golden chervonets were minted in 1923. These coins bore the emblem and legends of the RSFSR. In 1924, copper coins were introduced for 1, 2, 3 and 5 kopecks, together with further silver 10, 15 and 20 kopecks, 1 poltinnik (50 kopecks) and 1 ruble. From this issue onwards, the coins were minted in the name of the Soviet Union. Copper ˝ kopeck coins were introduced in 1925. The 1 ruble was only issued in 1924 and production of the poltinnik was stopped in 1927, while the ˝ kopeck ceased to be minted in 1928. In 1926, aluminium-bronze replaced copper in the 1, 2, 3 and 5 kopecks and, in 1931, the remaining silver coins were replaced with cupro-nickel. This coinage was unaffected by the redenominations of 1947 and 1961. However, 1961 did see the introduction of new coins, with 1, 2, 3 and 5 kopecks in aluminium-bronze, and 10, 15, 20 and 50 kopecks and 1 ruble in cupro-nickel-zinc. In 1991, a new coinage was introduced in denominations of 10 and 50 kopecks, 1, 5 and 10 rubles. The 10 kopecks was struck in brass-plated steel, the 50 kopecks, 1 and 5 rubles were in cupro-nickel and the 10 rubles was bimetallic with an aluminium-bronze centre and a cupro-nickel-zinc ring. After the end of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation introduced coins in 1992 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 rubles. The 1 and 5 rubles were minted in brass-clad steel, the 10 and 20 rubles in cupro-nickel and the 50 and 100 rubles were bimetallic (aluminium-bronze and cupro-nickel-zinc). In 1993, aluminium-bronze 50 rubles and nickel-brass 100 rubles were issued, and the material of 10 and 20 rubles was changed to nickel-plated steel. In 1995 the material of 50 rubles was changed to brass-plated steel, but the coins were minted with the old date 1993.
Regularly issued commemorative one ruble coin during this period is practically identical in size and weight to a 5 Swiss franc coin (worth approx. €3 / US$4). For this reason, there have been several instances of (now worthless) ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland.
First rubleSee also
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