5 Roubles, USSR, 1961

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circulating in 1991 when the union dissolved, by which point the rouble was in free fall and the Pavlov reform had withdrawn the high denominations at two days' notice.