RSFSR — Settlement notes (1919)

The settlement notes of 1919 were the first Soviet paper money with the arms of the RSFSR. They came out in two series: small notes of 1, 2 and 3 roubles, and large ones from 15 to 10,000 roubles.

The first series was introduced by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of 4 February 1919. The small notes, without date, signatures or numbers, were printed in sheets in Petrograd, at the Expedition for the Preparation of State Papers, by the Orlov method of multicolour printing, and cut by hand — which is why their size varies noticeably. Uncut sheets are valued above single notes.

The second series was introduced by a decree of 21 October 1919. The 15, 30 and 60-rouble notes are signed by the Chief Commissioner of the People's Bank G. Pyatakov and a cashier, and their reverse with the RSFSR arms is printed by the Orlov method. The large denominations, from 100 to 10,000 roubles, were nicknamed "Babylonian notes": the slogan "Workers of the world, unite" on the reverse is set in seven languages and four scripts — Cyrillic, Latin, Arabic and Chinese — like the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. The Babylonian notes are dated 1919 but entered circulation only in March 1920; they were signed by the People's Commissar of Finance N. Krestinsky and a cashier. The second-series notes were printed at the Goznak factories in Moscow, Penza and Perm.

From mid-1921 the settlement notes began to be withdrawn, and a decree of 28 June 1922 ended their issue. Until 1 November 1922 they were exchanged for 1922-pattern roubles at 10,000 to 1.