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50 Roubles
| Issuer | Assignation Bank (Ассигнационный банк) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1771 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark, Border lettering |
| Protection description | Repeated text legend printed along the perimeter of the note forming a continuous anti-counterfeiting border; watermark present in the paper. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Russia's assignats were the country's first paper currency, authorized by Catherine II in 1769 to fund ongoing war expenditures against the Ottoman Empire. The Assignation Bank operated two branches — Moscow and Saint Petersburg — and early notes were redeemable for copper coin, not silver, a distinction that immediately undermined public confidence. Copper's bulk made paper a practical convenience, but the peg to copper rather than silver was widely seen as a depreciation signal from the outset.
The 1771 date places this among the earliest issues, before chronic oversupply eroded the assignat's value through the Napoleonic period. Border lettering as a security device reflects the limited anti-counterfeiting technology available domestically at the time.