15 rubles — RSFSR (1919)

The fifteen-rouble note belongs to the second series of settlement notes of 1919 and was introduced by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of 21 October 1919. It was printed at the First Moscow factory of Goznak: the obverse by plain typographic printing, the reverse, with the RSFSR coat of arms, by the Orlov method. Issuing ended under a decree of 28 June 1922; withdrawal had begun as early as mid-1921, and the notes were exchanged for 1922-series roubles at 10,000 to 1 until 1 November 1922. In all, 22 million notes were issued.

Every note carries two signatures: Chief Commissioner of the People's Bank G. Pyatakov (the same on all) and one of eight cashiers. The cashier is set by the block number and repeats every eight blocks: for example, blocks 1, 9 and 17 were signed by G. de Millo, blocks 2, 10 and 18 by N. Starikov. Baryshev and Loshkin have two blocks each, the other cashiers three. 22 blocks were issued (АА-001…АА-022), 1,000,000 notes per block — 22,000,000 in all.

The notes were printed in sheets of 10 (2 × 5). A full sheet is worth more than single notes (Denisov catalogue: К3-4л). A printing error is known: the reverse printed upside down. Specimens are perforated «ОБРАЗЕЦЪ».

The obverse is red-brown on a light brown underprint. The reverse is also red-brown, on a multicolour underprint, with the RSFSR coat of arms in the centre. The watermark is large six-pointed stars across the whole field.