50 rubles — USSR (1961)
Pick# 235
Photo:
Numista
Non-commercial use only
Watermark
Right-facing bust of Lenin.
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Special facts
The 1961-series 50-ruble note is a State Bank note with the shortest lifespan in the lineup: it was withdrawn from circulation as early as January 1991, as part of the confiscatory "Pavlov" currency reform, while the rest of the series remained legal tender until the USSR's dissolution in 1993. Only part of the available series range was ever used — just 116 of 394 possible series. This note also has a distinctive watermark — a portrait of Lenin rather than the stars used on the smaller denominations — and instead of a UV stamp, its security feature is colored fluorescent fibers embedded directly in the paper. Some notes have a yellowish paper tint — a printing characteristic, not a result of storage.
Printing defects
Interesting defects also turn up on 1961-series 50-ruble notes: ink bleeding during intaglio printing, and a rare, especially noticeable case where the printing sheet was fed in reversed, leaving the Lenin portrait watermark mirror-flipped and badly displaced from its usual position.
Paper type
1961-series notes were printed on two types of paper. The first is matte, greyish-yellow, and is less common. The second is white, glossy on one side, and is far more common. Different denominations switched paper type at different issues. Telling them apart by eye is difficult — it's more reliable to compare several notes side by side.
Specifications
- Period
- 1961 Monetary Reform
- Currency
- 1 ruble = 100 kopecks
- Issue type
- Circulation
- Material
- Paper
- Size
- 140.0 × 70.0 mm
- Issuer
- Goznak
- Dominant color
- green
- Watermark
- Yes
- Security thread
- No
- Demonetized
- Jan. 26, 1991
Variants
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Help estimate the varieties — use the “Estimate” button in a table row.
| Year | Series | Print run | Price | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | — | — | Estimate | Specimen, overprint (uniface pair). P# 235s | |
| 1961 | АА-АЯ | — | Estimate | Earliest series range: matte yellow paper. Pick# 235.. P# 235 | |
| 1961 | БА-ЗХ | — | Estimate | Bulk of the print run: white paper. Pick# 235.. P# 235 | |
| 1961 | ЯА, ЯВ | — | Estimate | Replacement series (only these two exact series, not a full range) for defective notes; yellow paper, same as the earliest main-run range. Pick# 235.. P# 235 |
Other items of the period
-
1 kopeck (1961–1991)
Y# 126
-
2 kopecks (1961–1991)
Y# 127
-
3 kopecks (1961–1991)
Y# 128
-
5 kopecks (1961–1991)
Y# 129
-
10 kopecks (1961–1991)
Y# 130
-
15 kopecks (1961–1991)
Y# 131
-
20 kopecks (1961–1991)
Y# 132
- 50 kopecks (1961) Y# 133a.1
-
50 kopecks (1964–1991)
Y# 133a.2
-
1 ruble (1961)
Pick# 222
- 1 ruble (1961) Y# 134a.1
-
1 ruble (1964–1991)
Y# 134a.2
-
3 rubles (1961)
Pick# 223
-
5 rubles (1961)
Pick# 224
-
10 rubles (1961)
Pick# 233
-
25 rubles (1961)
Pick# 234
- 50 rubles (1961) Pick# 235
-
100 rubles (1961)
Pick# 236
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