Soviet ruble | |||||
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советский рубль (Russian) | |||||
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ISO 4217 | |||||
Code | SUR | ||||
Denominations | |||||
Subunit | |||||
1/100 | kopek (копейка) | ||||
Plural | rubli (nom. pl.), rubley (gen. pl.) | ||||
kopek (копейка) | kopeyki (nom. pl.), kopeyek (gen. pl.) | ||||
Symbol | руб | ||||
kopek (копейка) | к | ||||
Banknotes | 1, 3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 rubles | ||||
Coins | 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 kopeks, 1, 3, 5, 10 rubles | ||||
Demographics | |||||
User(s) | Soviet Union | ||||
Issuance | |||||
Central bank | State Bank of the Soviet Union | ||||
Printer | Goznak | ||||
Mint | Leningrad 1921-1991 (temporarily moved to Krasnokamsk 1941-1946), Moscow 1982-1991 | ||||
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.
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The Soviet ruble or rouble (Russian: рубль; see below for other languages of the USSR) was the currency of the Soviet Union. One ruble was divided into 100 kopeks, (also transliterated as kopecks or copecks Russian: копе́йка, pl. копе́йки – kopeyka, kopeyki).
Many of the ruble designs were created by Ivan Dubasov. The production of Soviet rubles was the responsibility of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise, or Goznak, which was in charge of the printing of and materials production for banknotes and the minting of coins in Moscow and Leningrad.
In addition to regular currency, some other currency units were used, such as several forms of convertible ruble (Russian: инвалютный рубль): transferable ruble , clearing ruble , Vneshtorgbank cheque , etc.; also, several forms of virtual rubles (called "non-cash ruble" or "cachless ruble": "Безналичный рубль" beznalichny rubl) were used for inter-enterprise accounting and international settlement in the Comecon zone.
The word "ruble" is derived from the Slavic verb рубить, rubit', i.e., to chop. Historically, "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name. The word kopek, kopeck, copeck, or kopeyka (in Russian: копейка, kopeyka) is a diminutive form of the Russian kop'yo (копьё) — a spear.