The gold dime was a monetary unit in the Russian Empire and in the Soviet Union. At different times, he had one or another equivalent in rubles. This name has been used in everyday life since the beginning of the twentieth century to denote banknotes with a face value of ten units, for example, hryvnia, rubles, euros, and so on. This is associated with the issuance of a gold coin in the USSR, the weight, material and dimensions of which were repeated by the ten-ruble Nikolaev chervonets. There is another version. It is argued that the noun “chervonets” came from the adjective “chervonets”, i.e. "red". The new meaning of the word finally strengthened its position after the monetary reform of 1922-1924.
Times of Tsarist Russia
Previously, the definition of “gold dipper” was applied to any foreign gold coins minted from a high-quality alloy. For the most part, these were guilds and ducats from Holland and Hungary. From Ivan the Third to Peter the Great, unique tsarist gold coins were minted on the territory of Russia . They were also called chervonets (as option - chervon), but they, as a rule, were used as award signs. On such items there was an image of a two-headed eagle and a chest portrait (sometimes a two-headed bird was on both sides of the coin).
On the throne Peter I
The introduction of the gold dime is connected with the implementation of monetary reform. The new means of payment weighed 3.47 grams and 986 samples. In all respects, it was similar to the Hungarian ducat. In addition, coins were issued in denominations of two pieces of gold. Their weight was already 6.94 grams.
Gold coins of Russia saw the light in 1701. It was originally released 118 copies. They were used mainly in transactions with overseas merchants.
The golden chervonets of 1907 (the date is written in letters) is available in one copy. He ended up in the Vienna Museum from the Biron collection. In 2010, this unique copy was estimated at three hundred thousand dollars. In the Hermitage one can see a genuine low-grade silver chervonets in 1907. Often there are remodelers of this coin made of high-grade silver and copper. Their cost is estimated at about 50 thousand rubles for a product in excellent condition (XF).
During the reign of Peter the Great, the royal gold dagger was minted from 1701 to 1716. After that, it was replaced by a coin with a face value of two rubles with a lower breakdown. It depicted Andrew the First-Called - the patron saint of Russian lands.
The renewal of coinage of chervonets occurred in 1729 under Peter the Second. When Elizabeth ascended the throne, data on the month, and sometimes the date of their creation, began to be applied to the coins. At the same time, there was a clear division into two types - with the image of St. Andrew or the state coat of arms. The secret minting of the Dutch ducats began at the mint in 1768. They were intended to cover the royal needs of gold coins for trading in foreign markets.
Gold coins of Russia under Nicholas II
1907 marked the beginning of the issuance of new credit cards in denominations of ten rubles. This was due to an improvement in the methods for making securities. Soon, a decree was issued on the issuance of credit tickets of ten rubles of the model of 1909. They were in use until the first of October 1922. Exchange for new money was made at the rate of 10 thousand rubles. for 1 old ruble, but they did not take root. As a result, they launched the release of a five-ruble coin of high 986 samples, which was subsequently reduced to the 917th.
Alternative option
In the middle of the nineteenth century they began to mint means of payment from platinum (they were also called white chervonets). These were the most expensive coins of Russia at that time. The seemingly irrational decision was explained simply: by 1827, the Russian treasury had impressive reserves of platinum, which was mined from the Ural placers. There were so many of them that a direct sale of precious metal would simply have collapsed the market, which is why it was decided to put white chervonets into circulation. The idea of minting platinum coins belonged to Count Kankrin. Coins from crude 97% of the metal were produced from 1828 to 1845. At the same time, denominations of three, six and twelve rubles became available - quite rare for Russia. Their appearance was explained by the fact that for a more effective coinage the size was chosen, as in the previously produced 25 kopecks, fifty dollars and the ruble. Accordingly, such a volume of metal was estimated at 3, 6, 12 rubles.
For the first time in monetary business, means of payment almost entirely consisted of platinum. Previously, coins had this precious metal in their composition, but only as a ligature to copper or gold when counterfeit.
Soviet Russia
In the first years after the establishment of Soviet power, a breakdown of the money circulation system and rapid inflation growth rates were observed. Neither Kerenka, nor Sovznaki, nor Duma money, nor tsarist credit cards enjoyed the confidence of the population. The first denomination was made in 1922. The exchange was carried out in the ratio of 1:10 000. As a result, the monetary system was managed to be streamlined, but inflation was not stopped. Participants in the eleventh congress of the RCP (B.) Decided to issue a stable Soviet currency. Naturally, they discussed the new name of the funds. They offered to get away from the old options and introduce new ones - “revolutionary". For example, from the employees of the People's Commissariat of Finance received a proposal to call the currency "federal". Traditional names were also considered - virgin, chervonets, hryvnias. However, due to the fact that the hryvnia was the name of the means of payment circulating in Ukraine, and the virgin was associated with silver rubles, it was decided to call the new money in the old way - chervonets. The population accepted them with confidence. The reason was that the gold coins were perceived more as a non-monetary security, and not as a means of circulation. Many hoped that paper money would be exchanged for gold, but the government’s free exchange act never appeared. Nevertheless, paper chervonets actively changed to expensive Russian coins, and vice versa. Sometimes the first ones were even overcharged due to the convenience of their storage and liquidity. Thanks to the stable exchange rate of the chervonets, the government has gained a solid foundation for the development of a new economic policy (NEP).
Strengthening Positions
In 1923, the share of chervonets in the total mass of money grew from three percent to eighty. Two currency systems operated domestically. So, the State Bank annually announced a new chervonets course. This provided fertile ground for speculation and caused difficulties in the development of economic and commercial activities. Over time, the chervonets began to be used mainly in the city. In the village, only wealthy peasants could buy it, while for ordinary people it was prohibitively expensive. At the same time, there was an opinion that selling goods for common signs was a disadvantageous business, so prices for agricultural products were rising, and their transportation to the city was declining. For this reason, the second ruble denomination took place (1: 100).
Journey to distant lands
The process of penetration of chervonets into foreign markets was becoming ever more distinct. So, from the first of April 1924, its rate began to be quoted on the New York Stock Exchange. The first month he stayed at a level exceeding his dollar parity. In Berlin and London, they made unofficial transactions with the Soviet currency in 1924-1925. At the end of 1925, the issue of its quotation on the Vienna Stock Exchange was decided. At that time, the chervonets was already officially quoted in Shanghai, Tehran, Rome, Constantinople, Riga and Milan. It could be exchanged or bought in most countries of the world.
Triumphant return
In October, it was decided that the gold chervonets will again be issued on a par with paper. In terms of size and characteristics, it fully corresponded to a ten-ruble pre-revolutionary coin. Vasyutinsky - the main medalist of the mint - became the author of a new drawing. So, on the obverse was the emblem of the RSFSR, and on the reverse - a peasant sower. The latter was made by the sculpture of Shadr, currently it is in the Tretyakov Gallery. Each golden chervonets ("sower", as they were called by the people) of that period dates from 1923.
Most of the precious metal funds were needed by the Soviet government to conduct foreign trade operations. In addition, the gold chervonets (photos are presented in the article) was sometimes used as a means of payment within the country. Coins were minted in the capital, and then distributed throughout the state.
When they just started issuing expensive Russian coins from gold, there was such an incident: representatives of Western countries completely refused to accept these funds, since they had the symbols of the Soviet Union on them. The solution was found instantly. The Nikolaev chervonets, which foreigners accepted unconditionally, was taken as the basis for new coins. Thus, the Soviet government began to acquire the necessary goods from abroad for banknotes depicting the ousted ruler.
The period after the NEP
The curtailment of the new economic policy and the start of industrialization weakened the golden dime. The price for it was in the range of 5.4 rubles per dollar. Subsequently, he completely ceased to be quoted abroad. In order to unify the financial system, the ruble was tied to a paper dime. How much does a gold dime in 1925 cost? Ten rubles were given for him. Subsequently, the import and export of coins from precious metal outside the Union was completely prohibited.
In 1937, a series of denominations of 1, 3, 5 and 10 chervonets appeared. The innovation of that time is a portrait of Lenin on one side of the coin.
In 1925, an extremely rare test copy of copper was minted. In all respects, it fully corresponded to a gold coin. In 2008, at a Moscow auction, this product was purchased for five million Russian rubles (approximately 165 thousand dollars).
War time
In the majority of Soviet territories occupied by Germans, the chervonets did not stop walking. For ten rubles they gave one Reichsmark. The paradox was that collaborators (police, burgomaster and other persons who collaborated with fascist troops) in 1941-1943. received a salary in Soviet “Stalinist” rubles of 1937, with images of military pilots and Red Army soldiers who fought against the Nazis (these were the so-called treasury tickets).
Prices in Soviet territory were lower than in German. This was due to the fact that the Nazis artificially inflated the Reichsmark course, therefore, when a settlement was liberated from invaders, the cost of products on the local market decreased significantly, sometimes even three times. This fact, of course, was positively perceived by the local population.
In the Soviet Union they paid with chervonets until 1947. They were replaced by new banknotes denominated in rubles. For ten chervonets they gave one ruble.
1980 Olympics
From 1975 to 1982, the State Bank of the Soviet Union issued coins similar to the chervontsy sample of 1923 with the coat of arms of the RSFSR and new dates. The total circulation was 7,350,000 copies. These coins were minted on the occasion of the Olympics in Moscow, but they did not have legal tender status on the territory of the Soviet Union. They were used in foreign trade transactions and sold to foreign guests.
In the mid-1990s, the Central Bank began selling Olympic gold coins as investment coins, and in 2001 this government agency decided to make them legal tender along with the silver three-ruble Sobol.
The most famous scams
Soviet chervonets were a fairly solid currency and were distinguished by high purchasing power. They were often faked to destabilize the economy of the USSR and conduct illegal transactions on foreign markets.
Most of all in this regard, Shell oil company employees excelled, dissatisfied with the fact that the Union sold oil at a price lower than the market average.
Most often they forged a one-ruble note, since the drawing on it was only on one side. They managed to arrest a very large batch of fake banknotes in 1928 in Murmansk. An underground organization that distributed fake banknotes printed in Germany was disclosed by the postal clerk Sepalov. An important role in the criminal scheme was played by some former White Guards, including Sadaterashvili and Karumidze. However, the trial of the criminals took place in Switzerland and Germany, where they received the minimum possible sentences. Subsequently, the Nazis took advantage of their experience, who during the Second World War faked the signs of the Soviet Union and other countries.
Numismatist's note
During the reign of Nicholas II, full-fledged imperials and semi-imperials were minted, which over time were replaced by money of less weight. In addition, unusual for Russian people coins in denominations of 7.5 and 15 rubles were issued. Gift twenty-five rubles and hundred-frank gold coins are classified as numismatic rarities. Much more widespread ordinary chervonets. It was released in 1898-1911. However, there is an exception here: in 1906, the tsarist gold coin was minted, the price of which currently reaches ten thousand dollars apiece. In total, 10 such copies were issued, which is why collectors are ready to compete for the right to possess such a rare coin.
People who want to protect their own savings often face a difficult choice: either transfer money in dollars, or in euros, or leave in rubles ... Given the instability of global financial markets, many are considering alternative investment instruments. For example, the value of gold chervonets is growing, though not rapidly, but steadily. However, how to determine the authenticity of a coin? On the golden royal chervonets of Nicholas II there are always Mintzmeister signs. In German, the Mitzmaster was the person who was personally responsible for the process of creating coins, and later - the manager of the mint. The aforementioned signs were placed under the date of issue, on the paw or tail of an eagle, under the coat of arms of the state or on the edge. They consisted of two initials of the Mintzmeister. For example, the royal chervonets of 1899 was marked with the stigma “F.Z.”, since at that time honorable duties were assigned to Felix Zalemn.
Long-term investment in coins in a few years can bring twenty to thirty percent of annual income, which, you see, is not bad.