Two Gigantic Notes Dating From 1919

Very cool! I've always liked the larger notes. They're just so different from what is in use these days.

That's an interesting question. Antebellum 1 rouble (I employ the classic spelling here) coinage contained about 75% of the silver content of the "crown" sized coins of other nations, and that is probably representative of its approximate valuation vis-a-vis the American dollar or Austrian thaler of the period. But by 1919, with the authority of the new Bolshevik government being seriously challenged and its survival still uncertain, and considering this was paper and not precious metal, I'd expect that the rouble had become severely devalued. Whether a 5000 roubles note would buy a loaf of bread or a pair of shoes I can't say, but I'm pretty certain that by then it was no longer a huge sum of money if measured by being convertible into thousands of ounces of silver as would have previously been the case.

Great notes! Good deal that you purchased them

IF you ever decide to part with the 5000 ruble note I'd sure like to be on your CONTACT HIM list; would fit perfectly in my collection.

Edited to add: How far is this swap meet from Mississippi?

Wow, those are huge! (And very cool!)

Were these actually meant to be circulated? Or bank-transfer-type? We'd have to fold those 4 times to fit in American wallets!

This series of notes are referred to as Babylonians because of the multiple languages. And it is 6 languages including Arabic and Chinese on the sides.

On the 1919 10,000 ruble note it is interesting to see, by his signature, that the Cashier - A. Afanasyev - appears to have survived the revolution. His previous 'boss' Bank President - I. Shipov - did not!

You did good, these are becoming scarcer and are always popular, many collectors don't have them and want them.

You did well getting any of these pictured notes for $10 apiece. The Babel note is a great find.

These notes used to be 'common' perhaps 50 years ago, but now stocks disappeared some time ago, and they are now found when they come out of collections or small hoards. Even circulated examples are even garnering decent prices, especially in clean VF and better.

These large European notes were invariably folded, to fit into large wallets, right down to pocket sizes, so AU and UNC examples are really not common, and F or worse is commonly seen.