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2 Roubles Latvia, Libava, Libau
| Issuer | City of Liepāja (Libau) Municipal Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
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| Currency | Rouble |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Либавское Городское Самоуправление ОБЯЗУЕТСЯ ОПЛАТИТЬ НАСТОЯЩУЮ ДОЛГОВУЮ РАСПИСКУ НЕМЕДЛЕННО ПОСЛЕ ОКОНЧАНIИ ВОЙНЫ 2 Руб. ПОДДЪЛКА КАРАЕТСЯ ПО УГОЛОВНЫМЪ ЗАКОНАМЪ. 2 Rbl. (Translation: Libava City Government. [The government is] obliged to pay the debt banknote immediately after the end of the war. 2 Rub. Forgery is punished under criminal law.) |
| Reverse description | Plain cream-coloured paper with a faint rectangular border underprint; no printed design or lettering. Two circular cancellation holes are punched through the note, positioned symmetrically in the lower half of the reverse, indicating redemption or demonetisation. |
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| Comments |
Libau — the heavily Germanized port city known today as Liepāja — issued emergency municipal currency in 1915 under conditions of acute coin shortage and the looming threat of German advance. The city fell to German forces in May 1915, meaning notes issued that year straddled two administrations: some circulated under Russian Imperial authority, others under German military occupation almost immediately after.
The bilingual naming convention on these notes, citing both "Libava" (Russian) and "Libau" (German), was not decorative — it reflected the genuine administrative ambiguity of a city whose population and commercial life had long been split along linguistic lines. That duality became permanent within weeks of issue.