20 rubles — RSFSR (1917) — Kerenka

Special facts

A sheet of forty twenty-ruble kerenkas was worth 800 rubles; the notes often circulated in uncut strips.

Appearance

Twenty-rouble treasury note, the kerenka, printed in brown and pink on thick grey paper. A patterned ground with a rectangular frame divided in two; at the bottom among plant ornaments the inscription "ОБЯЗАТЕЛЕНЪ КЪ ОБРАЩЕНИЮ НАРАВНЕ СЪ КРЕДИТНЫМИ БИЛЕТАМИ" (obligatory in circulation on par with credit notes). At the top in a figured frame the double-headed eagle without the symbols of tsarist power, at the sides the denomination "20 РУБЛЕЙ". The back has a geometric ornament with guilloche rosettes holding 20 in the corners and an oval of a wavy line with the words "ПОДДЕЛКА ПРЕСЛЕДУЕТСЯ ЗАКОНОМЪ". Size 61 × 50 mm. Usually no watermark, only a pattern of wavy lines with dots in the paper. Copies perforated "ОБРАЗЕЦ" (demonstration copies, never in circulation) and "ГБСО" (the stamp of the State Bank of the Northern Region, 1919) are known.

About the period

The "kerenki" are the Provisional Government's treasury notes of 20 and 40 roubles. They were nicknamed after Kerensky, who signed the decree on their issue. More about the period “Provisional Government treasury notes”, 1917

Coins and banknotes of this year: 1917

Other items of the period

• 20 rubles (1917) — Kerenka
• 40 rubles (1917) — Kerenka