Reform of Alexei Mikhailovich 1654 1663. Why the Cossacks from Repin’s painting do not need the copper money of Alexei Mikhailovich

In the 17th century, the era in coinage ended when absolutely any private person, who was usually a privileged and secular society, could bring material for making coins. The state finally and irrevocably took control of the mints into its own hands, and supplied raw materials exclusively from its treasury. In this regard, the coins began to lose their stability, and their value gradually began to fall.

Such instability of banknotes played into the hands of counterfeiters. They could calmly start minting coins, with virtually no fear that they would be severely punished for it. In those days, in Russia, cases of counterfeiting numbered in the thousands, however, this fact did not stop lovers of easy money.

Towards the middle of the 17th century, the monetary business entered a phase of crisis, which covered not only individual cities, but the entire Russian Empire. It was urgent to take any measures, as the situation was practically out of control. In 1654, the government attempted monetary reform. Precious metals and old coins began to be confiscated from the population, which were minted and returned to trade and monetary circulation. However, these actions were still very few in order to somehow stabilize the state’s economy. Therefore, the state monopolizes absolutely any trade in silver and gold. Until the end of the seventeenth century, the ruble was considered only as a unit of capital, but in fact such a coin did not exist. Now, it was decided to introduce a silver ruble, which was equal to 100 kopecks. This was a desperate step on the part of the government of the time of Alexei Mikhailovich, since the real weight of one silver ruble was equal to only 64 kopecks.

In addition to the fact that the first silver ruble was introduced in 1654, fifty kopecks were issued, the denomination of which was equal to 50 kopecks. Here the forced course also had big difference than in the situation with the ruble. This is due to the fact that the amount of silver contained in a fifty-kopeck piece was not two, but 60 times less than in a ruble coin. However, in order not to once again disturb the population, the old kopecks were not forcibly removed from circulation. It was decided to seize them using taxes, which had to be paid in old money.

For 1655 it was released great amount re-minted thalers. The coins were not completely re-minted, but were only supplemented with hotel legends, the date of minting and images.

However, as everyone knows, currency reform 1654 failed, because just seven years later, in 1662, a formidable uprising took place, which was called " Copper Riot" The Copper Riot was still suppressed, but the possibility of new popular unrest remained quite high. As a result of this, the government was forced to return to the old silver penny, deciding that this would be much more prudent on their part.

Ruble of Alexei Mikhailovich (1654)

The need for new coins

In Rus', the currency in circulation was silver kopecks, money and half coins minted on flattened wire. Large-scale trade transactions were made difficult by the lack of large denominations and the need to count thousands of small coins. On the other hand, petty trade was hampered by a shortage of small change coins. The backward Russian coin became one of the serious obstacles slowing down the development of the economy.

During military-political actions, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich led the collection of lands. In the territory of present-day Ukraine and Belarus, European coins minted on a round circle, both silver and copper, were in circulation. Russian money was less convenient, although it was made of high-grade silver. The solution to the issue of paying allowances to the troops and transferring settlements with the population to the territories annexed as a result of the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth leaned in favor of minting a new coin, close to the European model. It was necessary to equalize the monetary circulation of Russia with the monetary circulation of Ukraine and Belarus, which was previously serviced by European coins.

The lack of money was caused by war and the plague. The treasury's need for cash constantly increased, therefore, in the actions of the government in the field of monetary management, both the fiscal interests of the treasury and the awareness of the imperfections of the Russian monetary system were intertwined.

Beginning of reform

According to the original plans of the reform, a radical change in the monetary system was envisaged. The minting of new denominations was to begin, and copper was introduced as a coin metal. The old kopecks and money remained in circulation. The Russian monetary system was organized according to the model European systems with their various denominations. Foreign trade was freed from the inconvenience associated with the presence of only small denominations.

In 1654, the tsar ordered the minting of rubles from the thalers accumulated in the treasury. On one side there was an eagle depicted in a square (cartouche) and in ornaments, the year in letters (“summer 7162”) and the inscription “RUBLE”. On the other side is the king-rider on a galloping horse, in a circle there is an inscription: “By the grace of God, the great sovereign, king and Grand Duke Alexey Mikhailovich of All Great and Little Russia."

A counting ruble with old kopecks weighed about 45 g. The weight of an efimka (thaler) was 28-32 g. Thus, the new ruble was an inferior coin. It is also necessary to take into account that the state price of a thaler (for the purchase of which a state monopoly was established) was 50 kopecks, so recoining a thaler into a ruble doubled its value.

Silver coins in new system There were also half a half (it was minted on thalers cut into four parts) and a wire penny. The ruble and half a half were minted according to the weight norm of the thaler, the kopeck - on the basis of the pre-reform coin foot.

A decree of the same 1654 ordered the start of minting copper coins: Poltinnik, polupoltinnik, hryvnia, altyn and groshevik. The minting of the hryvnia may not have started. Copper coins were coins with a forced exchange rate (as, indeed, were the silver ruble and half a half). The images on the fifty-kopeck notes are close to the images on the ruble notes; the denomination is “fifty kopecks.” On the half-fifty coins the inscription “pol-pol-tin” was placed, on the altyn - “altyn”, on the penny coin - “4 dengi”. Altyns and grosheviks were minted from copper wire.

To mint new coins, a special money court was created in Moscow, called the New Moscow English Money Court (it was located in the former courtyard of English merchants).

In 1655 there were already quite a lot of new coins in circulation. Despite the punishments promised by the royal decree, the population used them reluctantly.

Changing the reform plan

In the autumn of 1655, significant changes were made to original plan reforms. Due to the complexity of making ruble stamps, it was not possible to re-mint all available thalers. In 1655, at the Old Moscow Monetary Court in the Kremlin, thalers began to be minted on one side with two stamps (a rectangular one with the date “1655” and a round kopeck stamp (a rider on a horse). This coin was called “Efimok with a sign.” Efimok and the ruble were equated to 64 kopecks (by weight), although previously the price varied from 40 to 60 kopecks. A thaler cut into four parts was minted, thus a quarter (half-fifty kopeck) came into circulation. Another half-efimok coin was introduced (a thaler cut in half with a countermark). “Efimok with sign" and its shares (half-efimok and quarter) were in circulation mainly in Ukraine.

To service domestic trade, in the fall of 1655, it was decided to begin producing kopecks from copper wire, identical in design and minting technique to silver ones. The use of these coins was limited by decree to the European part of Russia - trading with them was not allowed either with European merchants or with Siberia. From 1658-1659, the collection of taxes and duties was ordered to be made in silver, and payments from the treasury - in copper coins. Monetary reform was completely reoriented towards purely fiscal goals.

End of coin reform

Initially, the population willingly accepted copper pennies as their usual appearance money. However, the excessive production of copper kopecks, which were issued by five yards (two Moscow ones - Old and New, as well as yards in Novgorod, Pskov and Kukenois), as well as restrictions on the acceptance of copper coins, led to their depreciation: by 1662, 15 copper kopecks were given for a silver kopeck .

Depreciation of copper pennies caused upset money circulation, high prices and hunger. Peasants refused to sell grain, and merchants refused to sell goods for copper. Soon after the Copper Riot in Moscow, which broke out in 1662, as well as a series of popular unrest in other cities, including Novgorod and Pskov, the minting of copper kopecks was stopped, the copper mints were closed, and the minting of silver kopecks resumed. Copper coins were withdrawn from circulation; within a month after the abolition of the reform, the treasury bought back copper kopecks at the rate: 100 copper kopecks for 1 silver kopeck.

Remakes of the ruble by Alexei Mikhailovich

The ruble of Alexei Mikhailovich is the first ruble coin in Rus'. However, only about 40 authentic specimens are described, and they are mainly in museum collections. Only about 12 fifty kopeck coins are known. There are no known round coins of ten-kopeck and half-fifty kopecks. IN large quantities Copper round altyns (3 kopecks) and coins of lower denominations minted from copper wire are known. The generally accepted remakes, coins minted with genuine stamps, did not take place in this case, since no genuine stamps were found. At the request of collectors, stamps were made at the mint and rubles were minted with them. This coin received the designation “early remake”. Subsequently, fakes of the early remake began to appear. According to experts, based on a number of signs, they could be with more likely made at the mint. Coins of the same stamp (“remake”) are quite often sold at auctions. From the end of the 18th century, handicraft fakes of the ruble began to appear, including those made of copper, with unfinished fragments. For example, the horse's decoration was missing, and the fluttering sleeve was missing. This was considered tired counterfeiter syndrome. These rubles are designated as antique fakes and there is, for example, a sleeveless version in Petrov’s catalog of 1899 (No. 115 on page 11 of the Appendix). Many genuine and new rubles have the denomination spelled “RUBLE” with a space.

Introduction

In the middle of the 17th century, the features of a financial and economic crisis clearly appeared in the Russian state. The disruption of the country's economy and the disruption of monetary circulation were caused by overcoming the consequences of the Time of Troubles, the protracted war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, lean years, and epidemics. Carrying out monetary reform has become an urgent need. It was dictated not only by the fiscal interests of the treasury, the archaic nature of the Russian monetary system and the annexation of Ukraine, but also by the problem of monetary raw materials, in which monetary circulation experienced an acute shortage. Silver for minting coins was imported from abroad, and it was not enough to meet the needs of the country. In an attempt to solve this problem, the government first reduced the weight of the silver coin, and then began issuing money from copper, which was 60 times cheaper than silver. So, in Russian state XVII V. Silver currency formally dominated. But the silver ruble remained a unit of account; a small coin was minted - “money”. There were very few silver coins in circulation and copper money was mainly used. *I. Monetary reform of Alexei Mikhailovich* The restoration of the economy, significantly destroyed during the Time of Troubles and the Polish-Swedish intervention, required the first rulers from the Romanov dynasty to reform monetary circulation. The centralization of coin production was completed with the establishment of a state monopoly on coinage, with its concentration in Moscow. In 1648, the tsar granted the exclusive right to purchase silver to the government, prohibiting private individuals from doing so. Copper money had a forced exchange rate and was equal to silver money of the same weight. At first, the population calmly accepted the appearance of new money. But the abundance of raw materials led to an overproduction of copper pennies. According to the Austrian diplomat A. Meyerberg, the treasury issued copper money for a nominal amount of 20 million rubles over five years. From this operation, the government received more than 19 million rubles in net profit, since the cost of copper used to make coins was only 320 thousand rubles. The overproduction of copper money caused its depreciation and gave rise to inflation. For one silver ruble they gave 12 - 15 copper rubles. In addition to the official emission of money, there was also a massive release of “thieves’” money into circulation, that is, counterfeit money. Excess weight money disorganized the domestic market. Money depreciated, goods became more expensive or disappeared altogether. Salaries were paid in copper, and taxes were collected in silver. The deterioration of the financial situation of the lower strata of the population and service people led in 1662 to the Copper Riot. Since the silver came mainly from foreign trade in the form of coins, then foreign coins were minted into Russian ones. At first, coins with a nominal value of 64 kopecks were minted from the “efimka”, with a value of about 40–42 kopecks in silver, but in 1654 coins for 1 ruble began to be minted from it. The fall in the value of coins gave rise to increased prices and difficulties in trade turnover. With the high cost of silver and the absence of small change, the population was forced to “cut” money - a very small coin - to service petty retail. The coins were so small that during the trading period, buyers and sellers did not even use wallets, but kept them in their mouths. It was equally inconvenient to conduct large calculations with them. An attempt to radically transform the Russian monetary economy was made in 1654, going down in history as the reform of Alexei Mikhailovich. Wanting to bring the new coin closer to pan-European standards, the initiators of the reform equated the weight of the main newly introduced denomination - the silver ruble - to the weight of the thaler: 28-29 g. In the same year, the first minted Russian ruble was issued - its own large silver coin, on which it was made and inscription "ruble". But the old counting ruble, which consisted of 100 wire kopecks, which were not withdrawn from circulation as the sum of one hundred kopecks, “weighed” 45–47 g of silver and had greater value than the new ruble. It was planned to put into circulation, along with the ruble, the silver half-half piece, which existed only as a unit of account, as well as copper money - the half piece and the altyn. Not having its own silver mines, the Moscow government usually used foreign silver currency as a monetary metal, receiving additional income from its recoining into Russian small denomination money. The operation with the issuance of copper money should have brought a significantly higher income. According to the assumption, from 1 pound of copper there should have been copper coins totaling 10 rubles, while the market price of a pound of red copper at that time was 12 kopecks, or 1.2% of them

Conclusion

Summarizing the reasons for the failure of the monetary reform during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, it should be noted that the main one was the insufficient thought and preparation of the reform, both economically and technically: there were not enough qualified craftsmen, equipment, and precious metals. A serious drawback of the reform was scientific and technical miscalculations arising from ignorance of the laws of the money market. The collapse of the coinage reform of Alexei Mikhailovich 1654 - 1663. did not allow us to improve the monetary system and bring it closer to Western European models. At the same time, it is necessary to highlight positive result monetary reform: in the middle of the 17th century. The centralization of Russian monetary circulation was completely completed. IN Russian economy a state monopoly on money issue was established. Further transformation of the Russian monetary system will become the work of Peter I.

Bibliography

1. Monetary reforms in Russia. History and modernity. – M.: Tree storage, 2004. 2. Zaichkin I.A., Pochkaev I.N. Russian history. – M.: Mysl, 1992. 3. Solovyov S.M. History of Russia from ancient times. – M.: Eksmo, 2006.

Under Tsars Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich, in addition to kopecks and money, half coins weighing 0.11–0.14 g were also minted. During the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, minting at the money courts of Novgorod and Pskov ceased, which also reflects the trend towards maximum centralization.

Monetary reform 1654–1663. The monetary reform, broadly conceived by the government of Alexei Mikhailovich (1645–1676), was designed to solve several important problems. The silver penny was extremely inconvenient for large payments, but, on the other hand, it was still very expensive for the normal provision of small market connections. The introduction into circulation of large denominations of coins, primarily silver ruble coins modeled on Western European thalers, was urgently needed. The beginning of the struggle for Ukraine made it urgent to bring the Ukrainian monetary system, based at that time on the free circulation of Western European thalers and Polish small change coins, into conformity with the all-Russian one: clearing the monetary circulation of Ukraine from foreign coins.

The reform began with the minting and putting into circulation of silver rubles and half-poltinas, as well as copper half-rubles. The weight of the ruble was equal to the weight of the thaler (28 g). Rubles were minted on thalers, from which images had previously been knocked off, and in half-and-a-half rubles - on thalers cut into four parts, also previously devoid of images. Thus, two inferior denominations were introduced into circulation at once - a ruble, actually equal to 64 kopecks (a counting ruble in old kopecks, which remained in circulation, weighed about 45 g), and a half-half, equal to 16 kopecks with a face value of 25 kopecks. In the same year, they began minting copper half coins, equal in weight to the new ruble. At the same time, silver wire kopecks remained in circulation and their minting did not stop. The naive “theory” of the omnipotence of the king prevailed. On one side of the ruble coins there was a traditional image of the king riding on a horse and holding a right hand scepter. The circular inscription along the edge of the coin contains the new title of the tsar: “By the grace of God, great sovereign, tsar and grand duke Alexei Mikhailovich of all Great and Little Russia.” On the other side, in the center of the coin, there is a double-headed eagle crowned with a crown. At the top there is the inscription “Summer 7162 at the bottom - 1 ruble.”

Convinced of the impossibility of establishing coinage and introducing ruble notes into circulation, the government in 1655 issued the so-called "Efimki with a sign". The name efimok comes from the name of the first thalers minted in the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia. In the Czech Republic they were called Joachimsthalers or Thalers for short. In Rus', the first part of the word took root and thalers began to be called efimkas. “Efimok with a sign” is a thaler equipped with two countermarks: one in the form of an ordinary round stamp of a penny with the image of a horseman, the other in the form of a rectangular stamp with the date 1655, indicated in Arabic numerals. Efimok was officially equivalent to 64 kopecks, corresponding to the average number of kopeck coins made from one thaler. The ruble coins of 1654 began to be valued in the same way. In 1659, the circulation of efimki was prohibited. Now more than 1,400 copies of “efimki” are known.

In 1655, the minting of copper wire kopecks began, equal in price to silver ones. In design, they were no different from silver kopecks. Copper kopecks, gradually but constantly falling in price in comparison with silver ones, were in circulation until 1663. The different rates of silver and copper coins led to a severe disorder in monetary market relations, which had the most negative impact on the situation of the population. Silver kopecks began to disappear from circulation; they were hidden because... the government collected taxes only in silver. Moscow and other cities were flooded with counterfeit copper money. The breakdown of market relations hit the urban working and service people, as well as the merchants, especially hard. The result of this was the Moscow uprising of 1662 - the “copper riot”, brutally suppressed by the Streltsy, but which confronted the government with the need to restore the pre-reform monetary system.

Consequences of the reforms of 1654–1663:

The people remembered Alexei Mikhailovich’s copper money for a long time and retained distrust and hostility towards them.

Despite the general failure of Alexei Mikhailovich's reform, it finally eliminated the old legal norms free coinage. The production of coins became exclusively a state matter.

During the reign of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (1676–1682), the weight of a penny remained unchanged, i.e. the silver ruble still contained about 46 grams of silver. The coins of this king are distinguished by the special elegance of the stamps - the clarity of the design and inscriptions.

A new reduction in the weight of the kopeck (to 0.38 g) was probably carried out at the very beginning of the regency of Princess Sophia. By the end of the 18th century. The government reduced the weight of a penny to 0.28 g of silver.

MONETARY REFORM BY ELENA GLINSKAYA. 1535-1538

The first monetary reform of Russia was carried out in 1535 on the initiative and under the leadership of Elena Glinskaya - Grand Duchess Moscow, wife of Vasily ΙΙΙ and mother of Ivan the Terrible.

The need for reform was caused big amount counterfeit coins among the population, the flourishing of mass cutting of coins, that is, an artificial, malicious reduction in their weight.

For example, they cut off the edges of a coin with scissors or drilled a hole in a coin and filled this hole with non-precious metal. This phenomenon was typical for all countries of the world where coins made of precious metals circulated.

Before the reform, money was printed in Moscow, Pskov and Novgorod; a few coins were issued by the Tver monetary yard. Moscow money and Novgorod money differed in weight, design, and quality of silver.

Thanks to the reform, it was created one system monetary circulation of the Russian state. Coins began to be printed from high standard silver at the sovereign mint, had standard weight, uniform design (minting).

The unified monetary system had a positive effect on the intensification of Russian foreign trade, primarily with European countries.

MONETARY REFORM OF ALEXEY ROMANOV. 1654-1663

During this period in Russia, the currency in circulation was silver kopecks, half rubles (half money) and denga (Moscow denga, it was also called “Moskovka” or “saber”, since it depicted a horseman with a saber. Moskovka was equal to 1/200 of a ruble Also in circulation was the Novgorod money or "novgorodka", a kopeck, which was equal to 1/100 of a ruble).

It became very inconvenient to conduct large-scale serious trading and pay with such small money. We needed large denomination coins.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich disposed of the thalers accumulated in the treasury (a large silver coin that was used in the 16th-19th centuries) important role in the monetary circulation of Europe and in international trade) to mint rubles. The silver ruble minted from the thaler began to be called the “efimka”. For the first time, the inscription “Ruble” was placed on such a coin, front side a double-headed eagle is minted, on the reverse there is a king on a horse. However, such a ruble was in circulation for no more than a year, since the silver content in the coin was lower than one hundred kopecks - in fact, the new ruble coin was equal to only 64 kopecks. The ruble turned out to be inferior. Therefore, in 1655, the issue of “efimkas,” that is, an inferior ruble not backed by silver, was discontinued. Full-weight thalers with a stamp (a rider on a horse and the year 1655) returned to replace them. This silver ruble was called "efimka with signs").

Also, at the beginning of the monetary reform, by decree of the tsar, copper pennies began to be printed from copper wire to service domestic trade. So many copper coins began to be issued that they quickly began to depreciate, which led to the high cost of goods and the inability of the population to pay. Peasants refused to sell grain, and merchants refused to sell goods for copper. In 1662, the Copper Riot broke out - an uprising of the poor against increased taxes and the release of copper coins that were depreciating in value compared to silver since 1654.

The revolt was suppressed, the minting of copper coins was stopped, copper coins were withdrawn from circulation, and the minting of silver kopecks resumed.

These were the results of the second monetary reform.

For history - the ruble of Alexei Mikhailovich - the first ruble coin in Rus'.

The main reason for carrying out the monetary reform was the need to build a fleet, equip an army, and wage the Northern War (1700-1721). First to get additional funds To maintain the army and navy, Peter I began reminting foreign coins, of which a lot had accumulated from the sale of government goods to foreign states. However, this in a simple way The problem could not be solved, since much more money was required.

In the course of two previous reforms, Russia was never able to create a large coin backed by silver. The largest coin remained the silver penny. Peter I decided to resume the minting of ruble coins. Initially, these were silver coins weighing 28 grams with a pure silver content of about 25-26 grams (later, under Catherine II, the weight of silver decreased to 18 grams). The ruble became equal to 100 kopecks. But the ruble did not monetary unit during the reform. The penny remained the main monetary unit and its name appeared on coins for the first time.

Peter I introduced many new coins: copper change coins - money, half and half half coins, and again introduced the copper penny into circulation, which was equal to 1/100 of a silver ruble. In addition to the minting of silver rubles, they began to mint half-rules, half-half-rubles, ten-kopeck coins, five-kopek coins, and three-kopeck coins - the weight of silver in each became less and less.

During the reform, gold coins were introduced into circulation: chervonets (3 rubles), double chervonets (6 rubles), double ruble (about 4 grams). Later, the gold chervonets were abandoned in favor of a gold coin worth two rubles.

Peter I also planned to introduce a copper ruble payment according to the Swedish model in 1725, but these plans were implemented only by Catherine I.

At first, the profits from the coinage reform were enormous, but gradually declined. Spending on the army and navy continued to rise, North War It's not over yet. Therefore, Peter decided to switch to a strict tax policy.

In 1762 during palace coup was overthrown Peter III and his wife Catherine II ascended the throne. First of all, she abolished the recoining of depreciated copper money, which had forced silver money out of circulation. The silver ruble remained the basis of monetary circulation in Russia. Under Catherine II, the weight of silver began to decrease and by 1764 reached 18 grams (under Peter the content of pure silver in the ruble was about 25-26).

With the growth of commodity-money relations, silver mines began to be unable to cope with the increased demands for an increase in the volume of money in the economy. Their productivity was very low. The question of replacing heavy copper and silver coins with the new kind money supply.

Count K. Sivere, Novgorod governor, wrote a note to the Empress about the need to introduce paper money. Catherine II instructed the Prosecutor General, Prince A. A. Vyazemsky, to prepare a plan for issuing banknotes.

In 1769, the first paper banknotes were introduced into circulation, which were called “assignats” (they existed until 1843).

The notes were in denominations of 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 rubles. They were printed on thick white paper with complex watermarks and oval embossing. Each note contained the signatures of two senators, an advisor and a bank director.

At the end of her reign, Catherine II was forced to return to the project of Peter Shuvalov, who, during the life of Peter III, the husband of Catherine II, suggested that he re-mint copper coins, that is, reduce their weight, which increased the face value of copper coins.

The death of Catherine II stopped the implementation of this plan

Nominal value – nominal value established for valuable papers upon their release. (dictionary)

Emission is a release of money into circulation that leads to a general increase in the money supply in circulation. (dictionary)

KANKRIN MONETARY REFORM. 1839-1843
Why was reform needed?

Paper money during the reign of Catherine II had a dual character. On the one hand, they represented metallic money in circulation, on the other hand, they were an independent monetary unit that had its own spheres of circulation. This dual mechanism of the first paper money began to interfere.

TO early XIX c.copper, silver and gold coins were completely withdrawn from circulation. Cash (assignats) became the basis of the monetary system in Russia, but notes began to depreciate greatly even under Catherine II. The depreciation of bank notes intensified Patriotic War 1812.

The exchange rate of the assignat ruble to the silver ruble was unstable, constantly fluctuating, which made settlements difficult both in the domestic and foreign markets. It was necessary to stop the weakening of banknotes and fix the exchange rate of the banknote ruble to the silver ruble.

The role of industry has increased. Technical progress required increased spending on the development of new technologies. More and more more people filled out industrial complex, people needed to be paid. The state constantly put into circulation a new money supply, which was still not enough. Inflation “ate up” these new revenues.

The Kankrin reform is considered a transitional reform; it was carried out in 3 stages.

The first stage of reform.

In 1839, a manifesto “On the structure of the monetary system” was published, which established a system of silver monometallism in Russia - the silver ruble became the main monetary unit. All financial and trade transactions had to be carried out in rubles. Kankrin directed his efforts to fix the value of the assignat ruble - 1 silver ruble = 4 spools, 1 silver ruble = 3.5 rubles in assignats.

State banknotes were assigned the role of an auxiliary banknote.

In the same 1839, another decree was issued “On the establishment of the Deposit Office of Silver Coins at the State Commercial Bank.” Tickets from the Deposit Office became legal tender. The population could deposit silver rubles, receiving in return a Deposit ticket for an amount equal to the value of the deposited silver rubles.

That is, the deposit ticket was something like a cash receipt for opening a deposit (for storing silver money). IN financially the treasury had nothing to gain from this, it was a step to strengthen the population’s confidence in paper banknotes, to strengthen the role of the state financial structure. Deposit notes were convenient for the wealthy, who could store their silver outside the home, as well as for trading, when there was no need to carry heavy bags of silver coins.

The need to continue the reform was caused primarily by such economic factors as a severe crop failure in 1840. The population began to close deposits to return cash. Banks were on the verge of bankruptcy. Therefore, it was decided to issue Credit Notes in 50-ruble denominations, which circulated in parallel with the silver ruble and were exchanged for silver coin. That is, credit notes, like deposit notes, had one hundred percent silver value.

What did this give the state?

Credit notes were supposed to help state credit institutions and the treasury, which could issue a credit note if there was a shortage of cash.

Since the treasury and the state had nothing from the Deposit Notes, it was decided to increase the issue of Credit Notes and exchange the Deposit Notes for Credit Notes. The population was informed about this by the manifesto of June 1, 1843 “On the replacement of banknotes and other monetary representatives with credit notes”

Credit notes were exchanged for silver and gold. Thus, a more or less stable monetary circulation system emerged in Russia, in which paper money was exchanged for silver and gold. Credit notes were backed by 35-40% gold and silver.

After the reform, the deficit state budget decreased, but Crimean War, which began in 1853, again devalued banknotes.

There were two monetary units in Russia - the silver ruble and Credit notes. The new monetary reform was supposed to combine these two banknotes which continued to depreciate.

In February 1895, Finance Minister Sergei Witte presented a report to Emperor Nicholas II on the need to introduce gold circulation in Russia. Many countries have already switched to the gold standard due to the growth of commodity-money relations between states.

The reform provided for 100% backing of the bulk of banknotes issued in circulation with gold and their free exchange for gold. The state Russian monetary unit was the gold ruble with a gold content of 17.24 shares. This period in the financial history of Russia began to be called the period of “golden monometallism.”

With the transition to the gold standard, a fairly stable and solvent monetary system was created in Russia, which contributed to the rapid integration of Russia into international business circles, expanded its sphere of influence and strengthened industrial and trade ties with other countries.