1 Rouble, USSR, 1961

This copy

Accession

OM-00251

Serial

Но 6929848

Series year

1961

Actually issued

1961

Signatures

This issue carries no bank manager or cashier signature.

Grade

VG (IBNS)

Soiled, edge wear, limp. 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

$1.5 indicative

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

Dimensions

104.9 × 55.4 mm (±0.6, from the scan)

The type

Type

1 Rouble, USSR, 1961

Printer

Not established

Rarity

very common

Inscriptions

Reverse — the fifteen republics

Пять карбованців · Бес сом · Пяць рублёў · Беш сўм · ხუთი მანეთი

The denomination named in each union language, on the reverse of every note

Symbology

State arms and the Kremlin

The Spasskaya Tower and the union arms - the state depicting its own centre.

Denomination in fifteen languages

Repeated on the reverse once for each union republic.

What was happening

The 1961 reform redenominated the rouble ten to one and gave the Soviet Union the currency it kept for thirty years. The treasury notes - 1, 3 and 5 roubles - carry the state arms and the Kremlin; the bank notes from 10 up carry Lenin.

The design outlived the state. These same notes were still circulating in 1991 when the union dissolved, by which point the rouble was in free fall and the Pavlov reform had withdrawn the high denominations at two days' notice.

This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 1 Rouble, USSR, 1961 in the collection.