Russian ruble

Each ruble is technically subdivided into 100 kopeyka (kopecks), but kopeck-denominated coins are now rarely used due to inflation. It is the second-oldest currency in continuous use, after British sterling. It was also the first decimal currency.

The ruble was the currency of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union, where it was known as the Soviet ruble (code: SUR, 810). Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ruble was replaced in Russia with the Russian ruble (code: RUR, 810) at par in the following year. The Russian ruble continued to be used in 11 post-Soviet states, forming a "ruble zone" until 1993. In 1998, the ruble was redenominated (code: RUB, 643) shortly before the 1998 financial crisis, at a rate of 1000 RUR = 1 RUB.

The ruble is a free-floating currency, and in 2023, the digital ruble was introduced. The Russian ruble is also used as a de facto legal tender in Baikonur, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

History

Overview

The ruble has been used in Russian territories since the 14th century, and is the second-oldest currency still in circulation, behind sterling. Historically, the grivna, ruble and denga were used across Russian territories as measurements of weight. As a result of monetary reforms by Peter the Great, the ruble was minted in Russia as a circulating coin in 1704, shortly before the establishment of the Russian Empire. It was also the first currency in Europe to be decimalised in 1704, when it was divided into 100 kopecks. The silver ruble was used until 1897, and the gold ruble was used until 1917.

The Soviet ruble officially replaced the imperial ruble in 1922 and continued to be used until 1993, when it was formally replaced with the Russian ruble in the Russian Federation and by other currencies in other post-Soviet states. The ruble has seen several incarnations and redenominations during its history, the latest of which is the introduction in 1998 of the current Russian ruble (code: RUB) at the rate of 1 RUB = 1,000 RUR.

Etymology

According to one version, the word "ruble" is derived from the Russian verb рубить (rubit), "to cut, to chop, to hack", as a ruble was considered a cutout piece of a silver grivna. According to Ivan Kondratyev:

Rubles were parts of the grivna or pieces of silver with notches indicating their weight. Each grivna was divided into four parts; the name "ruble" came from the word "cut" because the silver rod weighing 1 grivna was split into four parts, which were called rubles.

Others say the ruble was never part of a grivna but a synonym for it. This is attested in a 13th-century birch bark manuscript from Novgorod, where both ruble and grivna referred to 204 grams (6.6 troy ounces) of silver. The casting of these pieces included some sort of cutting (the exact technology is unknown), hence the name from рубить (rubit). Another version of the word's origin is that it comes from the Russian noun рубец (rubets), the seam that is left around a silver bullions after casting: silver was added to the cast in two steps. Therefore, the word "ruble" means "a cast with a seam". A popular theory deriving the word ruble from rupee is probably not correct.

The ruble was the Russian equivalent of the mark, a measurement of weight for silver and gold used in medieval Western Europe. The weight of one ruble was equal to the weight of one grivna. Since the monetary reform of 1534, one Russian accounting ruble became equivalent to 100 silver Novgorod denga coins or smaller 200 Moscow denga coins or even smaller 400 polushka coins. Exactly the former coin with a rider on it soon became colloquially known as kopecks and was the higher coin until the beginning of the 18th century. Silver ruble coins entered circulation in 1654 but it was not until during the reign of Peter the Great did Russia completely shift to domestically minted silver ruble coins. In 1704, he reformed the old monetary system and ordered mintage of a 28 g (0.90 ozt) silver ruble coin equivalent to 100 new copper kopeck coins. Apart from one ruble and one kopeck coins, other smaller and greater coins existed as well.

Both the spellings ruble and rouble are used in English, depending on the author's native dialect. The earliest use recorded in English is the now completely obsolete robble. The form rouble is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary and probably derives from the transliteration into French used among the Tsarist aristocracy. It may have been retained in English to avoid confusion with "rubble". In general, American, and some Canadian, authors tend to use "ruble" while other English-speaking authors use "rouble". In American English there is a tendency for older sources to use rouble and more recent ones to use ruble. However, usage is not consistent and major publications are known to use both (though usually preferring one or the other).

The Russian plurals that may be seen on the actual currency are modified according to Russian grammar. Numbers ending in 1 (except for 11) are followed by nominative singular рубль rubl, копейка kopeyka. Numbers ending in 2, 3 or 4 (except for 12–14) are followed by genitive singular рубля rublya, копейки kopeyki. Numbers ending in 5–9, 0, or 11–14 are followed by genitive plural рублей rubley, копеек kopeyek.

In several languages spoken in Russia and the former Soviet Union, the currency name has no etymological relation with ruble. Especially in Turkic languages or languages influenced by them, the ruble is often known (also officially) as som or sum (meaning pure), or manat (from Russian moneta, meaning coin). Soviet ruble banknotes had their value printed in the languages of all 15 republics of the Soviet Union.

Early history

The coinage system in medieval Russia was connected to a system of weights. The grivna was used in Russia as the basic monetary unit, but during the 14th and 15th centuries, it was replaced by the ruble as the primary accounting unit. The first chronicle mention of the ruble as an accounting unit is found under the year 1316. In the second half of the 14th century, Dmitry Donskoy issued the ruble and a smaller coin known as the denga (pl. dengi). The relative value of the ruble differed between regions in the country. In the Sudebnik of 1497, the ruble was equal to 200 dengi and the altyn was equal to 6 dengi.

There were two variants of the denga, minted in Novgorod and Moscow. The weight of a denga silver coin was unstable and inflating, but by 1535, following the monetary reform of Elena Glinskaya, one Novgorod denga weighed 0.68 g (0.022 ozt), the Moscow denga being a half that of the Novgorod denga. Thus, one accounting ruble consisted of 100 Novgorod or 200 Moscow dengi (68 g (2.2 ozt) of silver). As the Novgorod denga bore the image of a rider with a spear (Russian: копьё, kop’yo), it later has become known as the kopeck. In the 17th century, the weight of a kopeck coin reduced to 0.48 g (0.015 ozt), thus one ruble was equal to 48 g (1.5 ozt) of silver.

In 1654–1655, Tsar Alexis of Russia carried out a monetary reform and ordered the mintage of silver one ruble coins from imported joachimsthalers and new kopeck coins from copper (old silver kopecks were left in circulation). Although around a million of such rubles was made, its lower weight (28–32 grams) against the nominal ruble (48 g) led to counterfeiting, speculation and inflation, and after the Copper Riot of 1662, the new monetary system was abandoned in favour of the old one.

Imperial ruble (1704–1922)

In 1704, Peter the Great finally reformed the old Russian monetary system, minting a silver ruble coin of weight 28.1 g (0.90 ozt) and 72% fineness; hence 20.22 g fine silver. The decision to subdivide it primarily into 100 copper kopecks, rather than 200 Moscow denga, made the Russian ruble the world's first decimal currency.

The amount of silver in a ruble varied in the 18th century. Additionally, coins worth over a ruble were minted in gold and platinum. By the end of the 18th century, the ruble was set to 4 zolotnik 21 dolya (or 421⁄96 zolotnik, almost exactly equal to 18 grams) of pure silver or 27 dolya (almost exactly equal to 1.2 g (0.039 ozt)) of pure gold, with a ratio of 15:1 for the values of the two metals. In 1828, platinum coins were introduced with 1 ruble equal to 772⁄3 dolya (3.451 grams).

On 17 December 1885, a new standard was adopted which did not change the silver ruble but reduced the gold content to 1.161 grams, pegging the gold ruble to the French franc at a rate of 1 ruble = 4 francs. This rate was revised in 1897 to 1 ruble = 22⁄3 francs (17.424 dolya or 0.77424 g fine gold). This ruble was worth about US$0.5145 in 1914.

With the outbreak of World War I, the gold standard peg was dropped and the ruble fell in value, suffering from hyperinflation in the early 1920s. With the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922, the Russian ruble was replaced by the Soviet ruble. The pre-revolutionary Chervonetz was temporarily brought back into circulation from 1922 to 1925.

Imperial ruble coins

By the beginning of the 19th century, copper coins were issued for 1⁄4, 1⁄2, 1, 2 and 5 kopecks, with silver 5, 10, 25 and 50 kopecks and 1 ruble and gold 5, although production of the 10 ruble coin ceased in 1806. Silver 20 kopecks were introduced in 1820, followed by copper 10 kopecks minted between 1830 and 1839, and copper 3 kopecks introduced in 1840. Between 1828 and 1845, platinum 3, 6 and 12 rubles were issued. In 1860, silver 15 kopecks were introduced, due to the use of this denomination (equal to 1 złoty) in Poland, whilst, in 1869, gold 3 rubles were introduced.

In 1886, a new gold coinage was introduced consisting of 5 and 10 ruble coins. This was followed by another, in 1897. In addition to smaller 5 and 10 ruble coins, 7+1⁄2 and 15 ruble coins were issued for a single year, as these were equal in size to the previous 5 and 10 ruble coins. The gold coinage was suspended in 1911, with the other denominations produced until the First World War.

The Constantine ruble (Russian: константиновский рубль, konstantinovsky rubl') is a rare silver coin of the Russian Empire bearing the profile of Constantine, the brother of emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. Its manufacture was being prepared at the Saint Petersburg Mint during the brief Interregnum of 1825, but it was never minted in numbers, and never circulated in public. Its existence became known in 1857 in foreign publications.

Imperial ruble banknotes

In 1768, during the reign of Catherine the Great, the Russian Assignation Bank was instituted to issue the government paper money. It opened in Saint Petersburg and in Moscow in 1769.

In 1769, Assignation rubles were introduced for 25, 50, 75 and 100 rubles, with 5 and 10 rubles added in 1787 and 200 rubles in 1819. The value of the Assignation rubles fell relative to the coins until, in 1839, the relationship was fixed at 1 silver ruble = 3+1⁄2 assignat rubles. In 1840, the State Commercial Bank issued 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 ruble notes, followed by 50 ruble credit notes of the Custody Treasury and State Loan Bank.

In 1843, the Assignation Bank ceased operations, and state credit notes (Russian: государственные кредитные билеты, gosudarstvenniye kreditniye bilety) were introduced in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 rubles. In 1859 a paper credit ruble was worth about nine-tenths of a silver ruble. These circulated, in various types, until the revolution, with 500 ruble notes added in 1898 and 250 and 1,000 ruble notes added in 1917. In 1915, two kinds of small change notes were issued. One, issued by the Treasury, consisted of regular style (if small) notes for 1, 2, 3, 5 and 50 kopecks. The other consisted of the designs of stamps printed onto card with text and the imperial eagle printed on the reverse. These were in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 10, 15 and 20 kopecks.

In 1917, the Provisional Government issued treasury notes for 20 and 40 rubles. These notes are known as "Kerenki" or "Kerensky rubles". The provisional government also had 25 and 1,000 ruble state credit notes printed in the United States but most were not issued.

Soviet ruble – SUR (1922–1992)

Between 1917 and 1922, the Russian ruble was replaced by the Soviet ruble (ISO 4217 code: SUR) which, issued by the State Bank of the USSR, remained the sole currency of the Soviet Union, until its breakup in 1991. Afterwards, it continued to be used in the 15 Post-Soviet states until it was replaced by new national currencies by the end of 1992, and in the Russian Federation, the Russian ruble was reintroduced by 1992. The Central Bank of Russia responded in July 1992 by setting up restrictions on the flow of credit between Russia and other states. The final collapse of the "ruble zone" began with the exchange of banknotes by the Central Bank of Russia on Russian territory at the end of 1993. As a result, other countries still in the "ruble zone" were "pushed out".

Ruble – RUR (1992–1998)

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ruble remained the currency of the Russian Federation until 1992. A new set of coins was issued in 1992 and a new set of banknotes was issued in the name of Bank of Russia in 1993. The currency replaced the Soviet ruble at par and was assigned the ISO 4217 code RUR and number 810.

Apart from Russia, the Russian ruble was used in eleven post-Soviet states, forming a "ruble zone" between 1992 and 1993. Russian ruble was used in Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Turkmenistan until 1993, in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan until 1994, and in Tajikistan until 1995.

The ruble's exchange rate versus the U.S. dollar depreciated significantly from US$1 = 125 RUR in July 1992 to approximately US$1 = 6,000 RUR when the currency was redenominated in 1998.

RUR coins

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation introduced new coins in 1992 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 rubles. The coins depict the double-headed eagle without a crown, sceptre and globus cruciger above the legend "Банк России" ("Bank of Russia"). It is exactly the same eagle that the artist Ivan Bilibin painted after the February Revolution as the coat of arms for the Russian Republic. The 1 and 5-ruble coins were minted in brass-clad steel, the 10 and 20-ruble coins in cupro-nickel, and the 50 and 100-ruble coins were bimetallic (aluminium-bronze and cupro-nickel-zinc). In 1993, aluminium-bronze 50-ruble coins and cupro-nickel-zinc 100-ruble coins were issued, and the material of 10 and 20-ruble coins was changed to nickel-plated steel. In 1995 the material of 50-ruble coins was changed to brass-plated steel, but the coins were minted with the old date 1993. As high inflation persisted, the lowest denominations disappeared from circulation and the other denominations became rarely used.

During this period, the commemorative one-ruble coins were regularly issued continuing the specifications of prior commemorative Soviet rubles (31 mm diameter, 12.8 grams cupronickel). It is nearly identical to those of the 5-Swiss franc coin (31.45 mm, 13.2 g cupronickel), worth approx. €4.39 or US$5.09 as of August 2018. For this reason, there have been several instances of (now worthless) Soviet and Russian ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland.

RUR banknotes

In 1961, new State Treasury notes were introduced for 1, 3 and 5 rubles, along with new State Bank notes worth 10, 25, 50, and 100 rubles. In 1991, the State Bank took over production of 1, 3 and 5-ruble notes and also introduced 200, 500 and 1,000-ruble notes, although the 25-ruble note was no longer issued. In 1992, a final issue of notes was made bearing the name of the USSR before the Russian Federation introduced 5,000 and 10,000-ruble notes. These were followed by 50,000-ruble notes in 1993, 100,000 rubles in 1995 and, finally, 500,000 rubles in 1997 (dated 1995).

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian ruble banknotes and coins have been notable for their lack of portraits, which traditionally were included under both the Tsarist and Communist regimes. With the issue of the 500-ruble note depicting a statue of Peter I and then the 1,000-ruble note depicting a statue of Yaroslav, the lack of recognizable faces on the currency has been partially alleviated.

Ruble – RUB (1998–present)

In 1998, the Russian ruble was redenominated with the new ISO 4217 code "RUB" and number 643 and was exchanged at the rate of 1 RUB = 1,000 RUR. All Soviet coins issued between 1961 and 1991, as well as 1-, 2- and 3-kopeck coins issued before 1961, also qualified for exchange into new rubles. The redenomination was an administrative step that reduced the unwieldiness of the old ruble but occurred on the brink of the 1998 Russian financial crisis. The ruble lost 70% of its value against the US dollar in the six months following this financial crisis, from US$1 = 6 ₽ to approximately 20 ₽.

After stabilizing at around US$1 = 30 ₽ from 2001 to 2013, it depreciated to the range of US$1 = 60–80 ₽ from 2014 to 2021 as a result of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014 and the 2010s oil glut. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it declined further to US$1 = 110 ₽ due to sanctions. The ruble was subject to fluctuation when, in April 2022, the ruble went above its pre-full scale invasion level after falling as low as 150 ₽ per dollar in early March, with the longer-term trend showing a steady decline from mid-2022 to mid-2023, falling from 60 ₽ to 90 ₽ per dollar.

On 15 July 2024 the Central Bank of the Russian Federation closed the statistics of the over-the-counter currency market. On 18 November 2024, the ruble fell below the US$1 = 100 RUB, a benchmark the Russian government was attempting to maintain. By 27 November, the ruble had fallen to US$1 = 114.5 RUB, with the currency depreciating against USD and EUR at a rate of nearly 2% per day.

On 27 November 2024 in response to the currency collapse, the Bank of Russia halted formal foreign currency purchases from 28 November until year-end 2024, in "an effort to reduce the volatility on financial markets".

Symbol

A currency symbol was used for the ruble between the 16th century and the 18th century. The symbol consisted of the Russian letters "Р" (rotated 90° anti-clockwise) and "У" (written on top of it). The symbol was placed over the amount number it belonged to. This symbol, however, fell into disuse by the mid-19th century.

No official symbol was used during the final years of the Empire, nor was one introduced in the Soviet Union. The abbreviations Rbl (plural: Rbls) in Latin script and руб. (Cyrillic) and the simple characters R (Latin) and р (Cyrillic) were used. These are still used today, though are unofficial.

In July 2007, the Central Bank of Russia announced that it would decide on a symbol for the ruble and would test 13 symbols. This included the symbol РР (the initials of Российский Рубль "Russian ruble"), which received preliminary approval from the Central Bank. However, one more symbol, a Р with a horizontal stroke below the top similar to the Philippine peso sign, was proposed unofficially. Proponents of the new sign claimed that it is simple, recognizable and similar to other currency signs.

On 11 December 2013, the official symbol for the ruble became , a Cyrillic letter Er with a single added horizontal stroke, though the abbreviation "руб." is in wide use. The Unicode CJK Compatibility block contains U+3354 ㍔ SQUARE RUUBURU, a square version of ルーブル (rūburu), the Japanese word for "ruble".

On 4 February 2014, the Unicode Technical Committee during its 138th meeting in San Jose accepted U+20BD ₽ RUBLE SIGN symbol for Unicode version 7.0; the symbol was then included into Unicode 7.0 released on 16 June 2014. In August 2014, Microsoft issued updates for all of its mainstream versions of Microsoft Windows that enabled support for the new ruble sign.

The ruble sign can be entered on a Russian computer keyboard as AltGr+8 on Windows and Linux, or AltGr+Р (Qwerty H position) on macOS.

Digital ruble

In the wake of the development of cryptocurrencies, in October 2017, a draft government resolution was prepared on the technological implementation of the creation of a "cryptoruble". By October 2020, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation delivered a report on the creation of the Digital Currency of the Central Bank. It was emphasized that the Central Bank will not become a cryptocurrency, since it will be centrally issued by the Bank of Russia, which will become a guarantor of the security of settlements. Units of ruble numbers are distinctive signs of a digital code. The central bank must combine the function of non-cash and cash–it can be implemented both remotely and through an offline wallet; The digital ruble will be converted into cash and non-cash at the rate of 1:1. The report presents 4 possible models for implementing the circulation of the Central Bank of Securities, depending on who, how and to whom the wallets and several calculations are provided. At the same time, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov estimated the timeliness of introducing the foreign exchange ruble at 3–7 years.

In April 2021, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation reported on the current stage of the project. A model was chosen where the Bank of Russia opens and maintains wallets for financial institutions, which, in turn, open and maintain wallets for clients. By the end of 2021, it was planned to create a platform where testing of the digital ruble should begin next year. In June 2021, the Central Bank identified 12 banks that will take part in testing ruble blocks in January 2022: Ak Bars Bank, Alfa-Bank, Bank DOM.RF, VTB Bank, Gazprombank, Tinkoff Bank, Promsvyazbank, Rosbank, Sberbank, SKB- Bank, Bank SOYUZ, Bank TKB.

Testing began on 19 January 2022. On 15 February 2022, the Bank of Russia and market participants began testing the digital ruble platform and successfully carried out the first transfers in digital rubles between citizens; in the future they plan to test payment for goods and services using it. At a press conference held on 16 September 2022, Elvira Nabiullina, Director of the Bank of Russia, announced the start date for testing the digital ruble with real clients on 1 April 2023. Digital rubles were officially launched on 15 August 2023.

On 20 June 2023, the State Duma approved a bill recognizing digital currency as an object of agreement, property and inheritance, and on 11 July, in the second and third readings, it adopted a law on the implementation of the digital ruble. The law was signed by the President of Russia on 24 July 2023.