1 ruble — USSR (1947)

Photo: slamdunk (CC BY-SA) · Numista

Watermark

Five-pointed shadow stars.

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Appearance

Blue print. An ornamental frame around the USSR state emblem at the top of the obverse, the denomination below it in 15 languages of the union republics: the same as on the "16 republics" note, minus Karelian. The reverse shows a hammer and sickle over a sheaf of wheat in a guilloché frame, with the legal tender text. The paper carries a watermark of five-pointed shadow stars. The note's own title reads "State Treasury Note", although it was issued by the State Bank of the USSR. No signatures. 123 × 81 mm. It entered circulation in 1957, yet the note still bears the year 1947. The varieties differ in how the series letters are written — capitals or lower case (АА, Аа, аА, аа); the number font is the same on all of them.

The 1947 currency reform

The reform was carried out by a joint decree of the USSR Council of Ministers and the CPSU(b) Central Committee of 14 December 1947 (in force from 16 December): cash was exchanged for new money at 10 to 1, ending the wartime surplus of currency. Seven denominations were issued, from 1 to 100 rubles, all dated "1947". The denominations differ in color, size and watermark. The 1, 3 and 5 ruble notes are titled "State Treasury Notes" and the 10, 25, 50 and 100 ruble notes "State Bank Notes", but all were issued by the State Bank of the USSR. After 1956, when the Karelo-Finnish SSR ceased to be a union republic, the denomination text was printed in 15 languages instead of 16 -- hence two types of every denomination: "16 republics" (1947) and "15 republics" (from 1957 — the 1957 modification: the notes keep the original 1947 date). Within each type, collectors tell apart number fonts and series formats. Not every red "ОБРАЗЕЦ" (specimen) overprint on 15-republic notes marks a specimen: some of these notes carry a later cancellation applied for collectors after 1961. All notes were withdrawn by the 1961 reform (1 April 1961).