50 Roubles, Rostov-on-Don, 1919

This copy

Accession

OM-00050

Serial

АБ 74

Series year

1919

Actually issued

1919–1920

manager

R. E. Gulbin (Гульбинъ) probable

Engraved facsimile, identical across every Rostov note in the collection. R. E. Gulbin managed the Rostov-on-Don office of the State Bank and initiated its 1918 emergency issue.

cashier

Chepurov (Чепуровъ) probable

Engraved facsimile, identical across every Rostov note. Read at 600 dpi; not yet confirmed against a published signature list.

Grade

F (IBNS)

Moderate wear, light soiling. Estimated from the archival scan. Folds, soiling and edge condition are visible at this resolution; paper crispness, pinholes, small repairs and pressing are not.

Estimated value

$6.5 indicative

Category benchmark scaled for grade — an order of magnitude, not an appraisal. Priced 2026-09-07.

Dimensions

137.5 × 87.6 mm (±0.5, from the scan)

Themes

Russian Civil WarRegional issueWhite movementCrownless eagle

The type

Type

50 Roubles, Rostov-on-Don, 1919

Printer

Rostov-on-Don Office of the State Bank

Rarity

common

Inscriptions

Obverse — the branch's own warrant

Настоящій денежный знакъ выпущенъ Ростовской н/Д Конторой Государственнаго Банка и имѣетъ хожденіе наравнѣ съ Государственными кредитными билетами

This token is issued by the Rostov-on-Don Office of the State Bank and circulates on a par with State Credit Notes — a branch asserting, on its own authority, that its paper is as good as the state's

Symbology

Double-headed eagle, crownless

The same eagle with the crowns, orb and sceptre stripped off - redrawn for the Provisional Government in 1917 by Ivan Bilibin, and nicknamed the 'chicken' for its plucked look. It is a state trying to stay continuous with what came before while disowning the part everyone objected to. The Soviets kept it unchanged for years afterwards.

Bogatyrs and classical figures

Russian epic warriors alongside classical allegory. Unusually fine engraving for emergency money, because the Expedition's craftsmen had scattered south with everyone else.

«Россія Единая Великая Недѣлимая» watermark

'Russia, One, Great, Indivisible' - the White movement's slogan, worked into the paper of a note issued by one city.

What was happening

The 50-rouble Rostov issue of 1919. The Rostov-on-Don office of the State Bank printed its own money because the centre no longer functioned, and said so on the note: this token circulates on a par with State Credit Notes. That is a regional branch asserting on its own authority that its paper is as good as the state's, because there was no state in a position to contradict it.

Rostov was the base of the Volunteer Army and later the seat of the Armed Forces of South Russia. These notes are unusually handsome for emergency money — classical figures, bogatyrs, crownless eagles, real engraving — because the Expedition's craftsmen and plant had scattered south along with everyone else.

They circulated against Soviet notes, imperial paper, Don Cossack issues and VSYUR treasury notes, and their acceptance tracked which army held the city that week.

This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 50 Roubles, Rostov-on-Don, 1919 in the collection.