The Assignation ruble (; ''assignatsionny rubl'') was the first paper currency of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. It was used from 1769 until 1849. The Assignation

ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

had a parallel circulation with the silver ruble; there was an ongoing market exchange rate for these two currencies. Initially at parity with the silver ruble, the value of the Assignation ruble fell considerably below that of the silver ruble, finally settling at 3.50 Assignation rubles per silver ruble in the 1840s.

History

In 1768, during the reign of

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

, the

Russian Assignation Bank The Russian Assignation Bank or State Assignation Bank (), sometimes referred to as Assignat Bank, was a bank of issue in the Russian Empire, established in early 1769 by Catherine the Great. In terms of volume of issuance, it was the largest of ...

was founded to issue the first official

paper currency Paper money, often referred to as a note or a bill (North American English), is a type of negotiable promissory note that is payable to the bearer on demand, making it a form of currency. The main types of paper money are government notes, which ...

. It opened branches in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

and

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1769. Several bank branches were afterwards established in other towns, called government towns. Notes of the denominations 100, 75, 50, and 25 rubles were issued upon payment of similar sums in copper money, which were refunded upon the presentation of those paper notes. The emergence of Assignation rubles was due to large government spending on military matters, leading to a shortage of silver in the treasury, as all financial calculations, especially in foreign trade, were conducted exclusively in silver and gold coins. This lack of silver, and the huge masses of copper coins in circulation in the Russian domestic market, led to large payments becoming extremely difficult to implement, necessitating the introduction of some form of paper currency for large transactions. The initial circulation of the Assignation Bank amounted to one million rubles worth of copper coins, with 500 thousand rubles each in the St. Petersburg and Moscow offices; thus the total emission of banknotes was also limited to one million rubles.

Issuance of the assignation ruble

Between 1769 and 1843 five issuances of the Assignation ruble were carried out. Virtually all (except some denominations of the 1802 issue) were issued across a number of years. One issue (1785–87) was known to have two separate series.

Financial reforms of 1839-1843

In 1843, all Assignation rubles were withdrawn from circulation and replaced with the new ''state credit notes'' (Russian: ''государственные кредитные билеты'') in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 rubles. The Assignation Bank was replaced by the State Bank, and formally ceased operations in 1848. This was part of the monetary reforms of 1839–43, which improved the Russian fiscal system considerably. These reforms were driven by

Georg von Cancrin Count Georg Ludwig Cancrin (; 16 November 1774 – 10 September 1845) was a Russian German aristocrat and politician best known for spearheading reforms in the Russian financial system early in the 19th century. Early life Cancrin was born in H ...

, the Russian Minister of Finance from 1823 to 1844.

Notes

References

*
Shishanov V. The Assignats of 1802-1803 // Journal of the Russian numismatic society. 1999. №68. P.58-69.

External links