Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chervonets is the traditional Russian name for large foreign, and domestic gold coins. The name comes
from the word combination “red gold" (also known as rose gold) - the old name of a high-grade gold
type.[1]
Originally, this gold coin weighed 3.3-3.5 grams without par(yield) value, at times they weighed the
same as the 2-3.5 gram silver ruble. The first known chervonets of Russian coinage was the Ugric gold, it
was created in the 15th century under Ivan III. Sometimes, chervonets were considered any large gold
coin, including imperial and semi-imperial coins.[2][3]
Since the beginning of the 20th century, banknotes were often referred to as chervonets with the value of
ten units (for example, rubles, hryvnia, euro, etc.). This is due to the initiation of the Russian Soviet
Federative Socialist Republic during the monetary reform of 1922-1924 banknotes, or chervonets. They
were provided with the same amount of gold was contained in a coin of 10 rubles during the reign of
Emperor Nicholas II. A small percentage of gold coins were issued in denominations of one chervonets
with a picture of a peasant on the front and a coat of arms of the RSFSR on the back. According to the
weight characteristics (8.6 g of 900 samples) and the size of the coin, the chervonets completely matched
the pre-revolutionary coin of 10 rubles.
Contents
Chervontsy in Tsarist Russia
Ducats of Foreign Coinage
Chervontsy of Russian Coinage
Platinum Chervontsy
Dutch ducats of Russian coinage
Imperial
Chervonets in Soviet Russia
Strengthening of the chervonets
Scams with fakes of paper chervonets
Golden Chervonets
After the NEP
The Great Patriotic War
The 1980 Olympics
Uses of the word
Pre-revolutionary chervonets
Soviet Union
New Economic Policy (NEP)
1930s and later
See also
Footnotes
External links
In Russia, foreign gold coins were made of high-quality alloy, which had a weight of a ducat (about 3.5
grams), they were called chervontsy. Mostly these were Dutch ducats, Hungarian "Ugric", and Tsekhin.
As a result of the monetary reform of Peter I in Russia, a new monetary system was introduced and the
first gold coins, chervontsy appeared. In its weight (3.47 g) and [alloy] sample (986), they fully
corresponded to the Hungarian ducat (golden Urgic). Also, these coins were issued in denominations of
two chervonets with a mass of 6.94 g. 118 copies[7] of the first chervontsy were issued in 1701.
Chervontsy were usually only used in trade with foreigners.
The Chervonets of 1706 (the date is in letters) is the only known copy in gold. From the collection of
Biron the coin got to a museum in Vienna. Although, gold chervonsty from 1706 exists in private
collections in Russia, these were both removed from pendants, thus without flaws. In the Hermitage there
is a copy in low-grade silver, which is authentic (tested by Udzenikov).[8] The known replica of this
chervonets are made of high-grade silver and copper. B.S. Yusupov noted in his book, "The Coins of the
Russian Empire" (Kazan, 1999, p. 231), that before the silver chervonets of 1706 were known as a
shestak. Today, the low-grade silver chervonets of 1706 is an unidentified coin in the Russian
numismatics system. When confirming a sample of silver about 210, it should be recognized as the first
shestak. There are two types of [shestak] coins: without the medal on the chest and with the medal on the
chest. On each form there are several variants of stamps with small differences in details. The cost of a
new copy in high-grade silver in 2010 is about 50 thousand rubles.The description of a 1706-year old
chervonets (1707 model) with the letters of the engraver, IL-L. In the domestic market, gold chervontsy
were traded at a rate of 2 rubles and 20 kopecks- 2 rubles 30 kopecks.
Under Peter I, the chervonets were minted from 1701 to 1716. Then, for gold use in the country, gold
coins with a face value of two rubles with a smaller breakdown were minted. They portrayed the patron
of Russia, Saint Andrew I. The coining of the chervonets was renewed by Peter II in 1729. During the
reign of Elizabeth, chervonetz had in addition to the year, information about the month and, more rarely,
the date of coinage were given. On the reverse of Elizaveta Petrovna's chervontses there is a coat of arms,
a two-headed eagle, and on the reverse of a double chervonets is the image of St. Andrew.
With Paul I, the coinage of gold coins without a denomination with mass and a regular breakdown for
chervonets was briefly restored, but they were quickly rejected, adjusting the release of a 5 and 10 ruble
coin with a high 986 breakdown, which was subsequently reduced to 916 (88/96). In the future, coins
without par value were not issued.
Chervonsty are also called gold coins with a 3-ruble denomination, 917 tests and weighing 3.93 grams.,
Consent of their release was received by the State Council from Alexander II on February 11, 1869.
Peter II 1729
Anna Iannovna 1730, 1738, 1739
1742-1744, 1746-1749,
Elizabeth 1751-1753, 1755-1759 1749, 1751, 1755
Platinum Chervontsy
Platinum coins were minted in Russia in the middle of the 19th century, they were sometimes called
white or Ural chervontsy. By 1827, the Russian treasury had accumulated large reserves of platinum,
extracted from the Ural mountains. Its quantity was so great that the selling of them would crumble the
metals market, so it was decided to put them into circulation. Count Kankrin was the originator of
platinum coins. The coins were made of untreated platinum (97%), and were minted from 1828 to 1845
with denominations of 3, 6, and 12 rubles.
Such unusual denominations in Russia appeared for the convenience of coinage, their sizes was chosen to
be the equivalent of a 25 kopeck, a half ruble coin, and one ruble coin, the amount of metal in the coins
with the equivalent amount of metal.
In the first case of this coinage, all coins were minted entirely out of platinum. Before that, platinum was
used to produce coins only as a ligature (in metallurgy) to gold or copper (with the counterfeiting of
coins).[10]
Imperial
In 1898-1911 under Nicholas II, gold coins were minted from the alloy of 900 samples with values of 5,
7.5, 10 and 15 rubles. The content of pure gold in the 10-ruble coin was, 1 spool and 78.24 shares
(7.74235 g). The total weight of the coin was 8.6 g. The coins in denominations of 15 and 7.5 rubles were
called, respectively, imperial and semi-imperial. After the monetary reform of 1922-1924, coins with a
value of 10 rubles were called “chervonets”, even though in reality they were not. This name entrenched
itself because the chervonets began to be called the base monetary unit first in the RSFSR, and then the
USSR, it was equivalent to 10 Soviet rubles and like the tsarist ten-ruble coin, contained 7.74235 g of
gold.
For this moment, it is necessary, without in the least setting the task of an immediate return to the golden
appeal, to firmly establish that our economic and financial policies are resolutely oriented towards
restoring the gold provision of money.[12]
There was a discussion about how to name new money. There were proposals to abandon old names and
introduce new, "revolutionary" ones. For example, the workers of the People's Commissariat of Finance
proposed calling the unit of hard Soviet currency "federal." Traditional names were also proposed:
"hryvnia", " tselkovy" and "chervonets". In connection with the fact that the hryvnia called money, which
had circulated in Ukraine under the authority of the UNR,[13] and the "ruble" was associated with the
silver ruble, it was decided to call the new money "chervontsami."
In October of the same year, the State Bank was granted the right to issue banknotes in gold, with a value
of 1/2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 chervonets. This money was completely provided by the state with reserves
of precious metals and foreign currency, goods and bills of reliable enterprises. Already before their
release, the pre-revolutionary gold ruble became the basis for financial calculations in the RSFSR, and in
1922 it was legalized as a payment instrument .
The gold ten was estimated at the market of 12,500 rubles. Soviet signs of 1922, the State Bank who was
guided by the conjuncture, estimated one chervonetz at 11,400 rubles with Sovznak, which is somewhat
lower than the price of a gold ten-ruble.
Chervonets was met with confidence by the population and was viewed rather not as a medium of
circulation, but as a non-monetary security. Many expected that there would be an exchange of paper
chervonets for gold, although no government act on the free exchange of chervonets for gold did not
work out. Nevertheless, the population changed paper chervontsy to royal gold coins and vice versa,
sometimes even with a small overpayment for paper chervontsy (due to the convenience of liquidity and
storage). Thanks to this, the course of the chervonetz remained stable, which gave a solid foundation for
the deployment of the NEP .
There is an opinion that the introduction of "solid" money meant the fiasco of the Bolshevik social
experiment five years after its inception.[15]
Gradually, the chervonetz began to penetrate foreign markets. Since April 1, 1924, the course of the
chervonetz is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange. Throughout April, the chervonetz stood at a level
higher than its dollar parity. In 1924-1925, informal transactions with chervonets were carried out in
London and Berlin. At the end of 1925 the question of its quotation on the Vienna Stock Exchange was
solved in principle. By that time, the chervonets was officially quoted in Milan, Riga, Rome,
Constantinople, Tehran, and Shanghai. The Soviet chervonets could be exchanged or purchased
practically in countries all over the world.
Scams with fakes of paper chervonets
Soviet chervontsy, being a sufficiently firm and stable currency, possessed a high purchasing power in the
country. Chervontsy were forged, wishing to inflict damage[16] on the national economy of the USSR,
and sometimes for financial frauds abroad.
The best known fraud with counterfeit ducats was member of the English capitalist, Henry Deterding, the
owner of "the biggest oil company, Shell », he was unhappy with the fact that the USSR was selling its
oil cheaper than the average prices on the market.[17]
Because of the desire to inflict damage[18] on the national economy of the Soviet Union, the Chervonets
became the object of falsification on the part of the white emigration and other hostile groups, located
particularly in Germany.[19]
Most often, the objects of forgery were banknotes with denominations of 1 chervonets, as they had a
drawing only on one side. The largest party of counterfeit chervonets was arrested in Murmansk in 1928,
the postal employee Sepalov opened an underground network for the distribution of counterfeit
banknotes printed in Germany. In it, former White Guards, including Karumidze and Sadaderashvili,
were implicated. All of them were convicted in Germany and Switzerland, where they received minimum
terms. Subsequently, their experience was used by Hitlerite Germany during the Great Patriotic War to
counterfeit Soviet and other banknotes.[20]
Golden Chervonets
Simultaneously with the release of paper chervonets, in October 1922 a decision was made to issue
chervonetz in the form of coins. According to its weight characteristics (8.6 g, 900 sample) and the size
of the chervonetz, it fully corresponded to the pre-revolutionary coin of 10 rubles. The artist of the
drawing was the chief medalist of the mint, A.F. Vasyutinskiy (also the author of the final version of the
Order of Lenin and the first badge of the TRP ). The face side of the coin depicted the emblem of the
RSFSR; on the reverse was a farmer-sower, modeled from the sculpture, I.D. Shadra (the model was two
peasants in the village of Pragovaya Shadrinsky Perfiliya Petrovich Kalganov and Kipriyan Kirillovich
Avdeev), which now are in the Tretyakov Gallery. All the chervontsy of this period are dated from 1923.
Metal chervonets were mainly used by the Soviet government for foreign trade operations, but some of
the coins also had circulation within Russia. Coins were usually issued in Moscow and from there spread
throughout the country. With the beginning of the issue of metal gold chervonets for calculations with
foreign countries, this incident is connected: Western countries have resolutely refused to accept these
coins, since they depicted Soviet symbols. The exit was found instantly - the Soviet Mint began issuing a
gold chervontsy sample of Nicholas II, unconditionally accepted abroad. Thus, the Soviet government
bought the necessary goods abroad for coins depicting the deposed tsar.
In 1924, after the formation of the USSR, it was decided to issue a new type of coins, on which the coat
of arms of the RSFSR was replaced by the USSR coat of arms, but only test specimens were issued, they
were dated 1925 and had exceptional rarity. The refusal of the metal chervonets was explained by the fact
that the financial system of the country was sufficiently strong enough to give up free circulation of gold.
In addition, abroad, seeing the strengthening of the chervonets, refused to calculate in a gold coin in
favor of gold bars or foreign currency.
After the NEP
The collapse of NEP and the beginning of industrialization made the metal chervonets unnecessary for
the economic system of the USSR. The course of the chervonetz fell to 5.4 rubles per dollar and
subsequently ceased to be quoted abroad.[21] In order to unify the financial system, the ruble was tied to a
paper chervontsy. Already in 1925, one chervonets was equal to 10 rubles. Subsequently, the import and
export of gold chervonets from the USSR was banned.
In 1937 a new series of banknotes in denominations of 1, 3, 5 and 10 chervonets were issued. They were
the first to show a portrait of Lenin.
This was an exceptionally rare sample of copper for 1925, in all respects it was completely identical to a
similar gold coin. In April 2008 it was sold at a Moscow auction for 5 million rubles (about $165,000).
Since chervontsy walked on both sides of the front, and the Reichsmark's course was artificially
overvalued by the Germans (accordingly, the chervonetz is understated), prices on the Soviet side were
lower than in Germany. This meant that when a city was liberated from the occupiers, prices in the local
market were immediately reduced, sometimes up to three times, which was positively perceived by the
local population.
The course of the chervonetz on the German side. on the black market it often differed from the official
one. The coin was equal to one Reichsmark only in the period of the greatest successes of the German
troops (in 1942). With the successes of the same Soviet troops it became higher.
Chervontsy had circulation on the territory of the USSR until the monetary reform of 1947, when old
banknotes were replaced by new ones, expressed in rubles. The exchange took place in a ratio of 10:1.
The old chervonets, which previously corresponded to 10 rubles, was equated to one new ruble.
It is believed that the issue of these coins were timed to the Olympics in Moscow (1980). These coins
were also a legal means of payment, and mandatory for admission throughout the USSR, such as jubilee
coins made of precious metals. They were sold to foreign tourists and used in foreign trade operations.
Since the mid 1990s, the "Olympic chervontsy" have been sold by the Central Bank as investment coins.
By the decision of the Central Bank in 2001 they were made a legal tender in the territory of the Russian
Federation together with a silver coin with a nominal value of 3 rubles known as "Sable".[23]
At the moment, "newly-made" chervontsy were used as investment coins and were implemented by a
number of banks - both Russian and foreign.
Chervonets (Russian: червонец, IPA: [t͡ɕɪrˈvonʲɪt͡s]) is a former currency of the Russian Empire and
Soviet Union. Originally a term for coins of purer alloy (the name derives from "червонное золото"
("chervonnoye zoloto") meaning pure gold), the name was later applied to various sums in Russian
rubles.
Pre-revolutionary chervonets
The term comes from Polish czerwony złoty. Before the reign of Peter I, the name chervonets was
applied to various foreign gold coins in circulation in Russia, mostly Dutch ducats and Venetian sequins.
In 1701, Russia introduced its own gold chervonets, which had the same mass (3.47 g) and alloy (.986)
as the ducat. Unlike the gold coins minted in Russia from the 15th to the 17th centuries, which were used
as awards only, the chervonets of Peter I took their place in the monetary system and were used in foreign
trade. Chervontsy were minted until 1757, when they were displaced by the golden ruble (with a lower
alloy) and by counterfeits of the Dutch ducat, which by then met the demand for trade in gold coins.
Under Nicolas II, the finance minister Sergei Witte conducted a currency reform[26] and 10-ruble gold
coin (Nicolas II chervonets) started to be used in parallel with gold imperial (15-ruble gold coin) as a
principal legal tender of the Russian golden standard. The mintage of 10 ruble coins from 1897 to 1911
was over 40 million pieces. Gold coins were in circulation and could be exchanged for banknotes of the
same denomination without restrictions. On the 23 July/ 5 August 1914 a paper-to-gold exchange was
suspended "temporarily" and never restored.
Soviet Union
Chervonets 1922 With the creation of the Soviet Union (USSR) new national
symbols were introduced, reflected in the design of Soviet
coins. By February 1925, chervonets coins featuring the
insignia of the Soviet Union had been designed, and a limited number of test coins dated 1925 were
struck. However, these were not mass-produced owing to low perceived demand for them from the main
international trading partners of the Soviet Union.
Original gold chervonets coins were minted in 1923 and 1925. Very few chervonets coins remain from
1923 (almost all coins, which were not sold abroad and remained in state vaults, were recast into bars or
used in production of Soviet military orders) and they have recently sold for over $7,000. There is
widespread misconception about the 1925 issue: all English sources copy each other and say that only
one gold chervonets from 1925 survived, but this is not entirely true (see on locations below). At an
auction in April 2008 in Moscow, a single surviving production sample copper chervonets from 1925
with slightly modified design from 1923 appeared. It showed the letters SSSR (Russian: СССР) instead
of RSFSR (Russian: РСФСР), and introduced a new coat of arms (which only featured the first seven
Soviet republics, whereas by 1939 the USSR had fifteen). This copper sample sold for $200,000.
After the introduction in the United Kingdom of the Gold Standard Act 1925,[28] which established a
new procedure for buy-sell operations with gold, the gold coins issued after 1914 ceased to be accepted
by the Bank of England. As a result, interest in the Soviet chervonets in Europe fell sharply. To obtain
much-needed foreign currency, the Soviet Government decided to strike 10-ruble coins in the pre-
revolutionary design, bearing the portrait of the murdered Tsar Nicholas II. These coins were accepted
without problems. Six hundred thousand gold 10-ruble coins were struck in 1925 from the old dies which
had survived the 1917 Revolution and the subsequent civil war. These coins were dated 1911. The
following year, 1926, the government minted a further 1,411,000 of the same coins, as well as 1,000,000
gold 5-ruble coins dated 1898 on the reverse and again with the portrait of Nicholas II on the obverse.
The transition of the European currency system in the second half of the 1920s to a gold bullion standard
led to a minimum volume requirement of 400 troy ounces for inter-bank gold deals. This resulted in the
increased use of bullion bars and rendered it pointless to mint precious metal coins for international
payments. A part of residual coins with the tsar portrait was used by Soviet intelligence agents in secret
operations abroad.
Before industrialisation the value of the chervonets was pegged at 10 rubles, and production of gold coins
ceased.
In 1930 the chervonets was withdrawn from the foreign payments turnover and its quotation on
international currency exchanges was ceased.[29]
As of today, there exist five known gold chervontsy from 1925. All are located in Moscow. Three are
stored in the museum of Goznak, Russia's official mint. The other two are in the Pushkin State Museum
of Fine Arts.
1930s and later
The chervonets was suspended entirely after the monetary reform of 1947. However, a large number of
golden chervontsy were struck in the 1920s design before the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, for
sale to collectors (1,000,000 coins of proof quality dated 1980) and businesses (6,565,000 uncirculated
coins, dated 1975–1982[30]). It was hoped that the Soviet chervontsy would compete with the South
African Kruggerand, the popular bullion coin of the time. This issue contains 8.6026 g of .900 fine gold
(0.2489 troy ounces).[31]
In 1995 the Central Bank of the Russian Federation launched sales of 1975−1982 gold-chervonets
bullion coins to Russian commercial banks. In 2001 the late-Soviet gold chervonets was granted the
status of a legal tender by the Central Bank and turned into an official investment coin. In the middle of
the 2000s the stock of gold chervonets in the Central Bank's vaults came to the end, and a minting of a
new investment gold coin, Saint George the Victorious, was started in 2006.
See also
Hyperinflation in early Soviet Russia
Footnotes
1. Зварич, В. В. (1980). Нумизматический словарь (http://www.numizm.ru/html/4/4ervonec.
html).
2. Зварич, В.В (1980). ЧЕРВОНЕЦ (http://www.numizm.ru/html/4/4ervonec.html).
3. Фенглер, Х (1993). Червонец (http://www.numizm.ru/html/4/4ervonec.html).
4. CH, 1993, <<ДУКАТ>> (http://www.numizm.ru/html/d/dukat.html), <<ФЛОРИН>> (http://ww
w.numizm.ru/html/f/florin.html), <<ЦЕХИН>> (http://www.numizm.ru/html/c/cehin.html),
<<ЧЕРВОНЕЦ>> (http://www.numizm.ru/html/4/4ervonec.html), <<золотой>> (http://www.n
umizm.ru/html/z/zolotoy.html), <<ЗЛОТЫЙ>> (http://www.numizm.ru/html/z/zlot3y.html),
<<ФОРИНТ>> (http://www.numizm.ru/html/f/forint.html), <<ГУЛЬДЕН>> (http://www.numiz
m.ru/html/g/gul5den.html), <<ГОЛЬДГУЛЬДЕН>> (http://www.numizm.ru/html/g/gol5dgul5d
en.html), <<ТОРГОВЫЙ ДУКАТ>> (http://www.numizm.ru/html/t/torgov3y_dukat.html)
External links
Монеты России и СССР (http://monety-rossii.com/)
http://www.numizmat.net/news/detail.php?ID=9876 (Russian website)
1 Chervonets 1937 (http://banknoter.com/r/SOV22)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.