2 rubles — RSFSR (1919)

The two-rouble settlement note belongs to the same 1919 series as the one rouble and was introduced by the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of 4 February 1919. It carries no date, signatures or serial numbers. It was printed by the Orlov method, a form of offset printing, in Petrograd at the Expedition for the Preparation of State Papers. The issuer was the People's Bank of the RSFSR, and 410.35 million notes were printed. The notes began to be withdrawn from circulation in mid-1921; issuing ended on 1 July 1922, and they could be exchanged for 1922-series roubles at 10,000 to 1 until 1 November 1922.

The notes were printed in sheets of 25 (5 × 5) and cut apart by hand. A full sheet is worth more than single notes (Denisov catalogue: К3-2л). A printing error is also known: the reverse printed upside down (К3-2.1). Specimens are perforated «ОБРАЗЕЦ».

The obverse is printed in brown in two shades, dark and light. Their reverses differ: on the dark brown note the reverse is mainly blue and pale green, on the light brown one red-brown. The reverse is multicoloured on a guilloché background. The paper carries a lozenge watermark across the whole field. The size of the note varies noticeably, because the sheets were cut by hand.