5000 rubles — RSFSR (1919) — “Babylonian note”

The five-thousand-rouble note of the second 1919 series is one of the largest «Babylonian notes»: blue print on a yellow multicolour underprint, with the RSFSR coat of arms and the slogan «Workers of the world, unite» in seven languages on the reverse. It is dated 1919 but was released on 4 March 1920. The series ran from АА to ГР and were all printed at the First Moscow factory of Goznak; the number, two series letters and six digits, is printed twice on the front. The note was in circulation until 1 October 1922, when it was exchanged for the new currency at 10,000 to 1.

The note carries two signatures: that of the People’s Commissar of Finance N. Krestinsky (the same on all) and one of eight cashiers. Unlike the lower values, the cashier depends not on the last block digit but on the series letters, so the table lists series ranges; neighbouring cashiers share boundary series.

The standard watermark is broad waves, found with every cashier (Pick 105a). Narrow waves are known with three cashiers — Ovchinnikov, Chikhirzhin and Bubyakin (105b) — and stars with three as well: Ovchinnikov, Baryshev and Bubyakin (105c). Specimens are perforated «ОБРАЗЕЦЪ».

The dominant colour of the note is blue: the obverse is blue on a yellow multicolour underprint, and the reverse has the RSFSR coat of arms in the centre. The note measures 166 × 118 mm.