25 Roubles

The Russian assignat series was introduced under Catherine II in 1769 as a practical solution to the weight of copper coinage — silver and gold were too scarce for everyday commerce, and copper coin was literally too heavy to move in quantity. The Assignation Bank held copper reserves notionally backing these notes, though that relationship eroded quickly as the government printed to cover military expenditures, particularly during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

The long issue span of over three decades meant notes of radically different condition circulated side by side. Forgery was a persistent problem; Napoleon reportedly authorized mass counterfeiting of the assignats during the 1812 campaign as deliberate economic warfare, flooding occupied territories with fake notes to destabilize Russian commerce.