Bank.notes

Collection Soviet Union #495

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10 Rubles Soviet Ruble

Soviet Union 1961 1946_1989 VF P-233a Needs review ✦ AI 65%
mismatched_pair
Front · IMG_7185.HEIC cropped
Back · IMG_7186.HEIC cropped
Pair check: not yet checked
Identity

Where & when

Country Soviet Union
Currency Soviet Ruble
Denomination 10 Rubles
Series name Series 1961
Series year 1961
Issue year 1961
Era 1946_1989
Legal status demonetized
Predecessor currency Soviet Ruble (1947 series)
Successor currency Russian Ruble
Subjects & design

What's on the note

Front portrait
Reverse subject Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin
Watermark Hammer and sickle emblem in clear field
Color palette #d4a574,#f5e6d3,#8b4513
Themes architecture,statesman
Language / script Cyrillic, Latin, Georgian, Armenian

Front: State Bank of the USSR 10-ruble note from the 1961 currency reform series. The front displays the denomination '10 РУБЛЕЙ' (10 Rubles) with ornate guilloche rosettes and the inscription 'СССР' (USSR). Text in multiple languages of the Soviet Union appears at lower right, translating 'ten rubles' into the fifteen republics' languages (Ukrainian, Belarusian, Uzbek, Kazakh, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Lithuanian, Moldavian, Latvian, Kirghiz, Tajik, Armenian, Turkmen, Estonian). The 1961 reform redenominated the ruble at 10:1, replacing Stalin-era notes with this series that circulated until the USSR's dissolution.

Back: Spasskaya Tower (Saviour's Tower) of the Moscow Kremlin, the most recognizable tower of the Kremlin complex, built in 1491 by Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The tower houses the main gate to Red Square and is crowned with the iconic red star. The State Emblem of the USSR (hammer and sickle within wreath, surmounted by star) appears at upper left. Text reads 'ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ КАЗНАЧЕЙСКИЙ БИЛЕТ СССР' (State Treasury Note of the USSR) and 'ПЯТЬ РУБЛЕЙ' (Five Rubles) - note the discrepancy: the back shows '5 rubles' while the front shows '10 rubles', indicating this is a mismatched pair of images.

Production

How it was made

Issuer State Bank of the USSR
Issuer (native) Государственный Банк СССР
Printer Goznak
Engraver
Material paper
Dimensions (mm) 150x65

Security features: watermark,guilloche_patterns,microprint

Geography

Where in the world

Geography unknown for Soviet Union.

The story

Background & history

This is the 1961 series of Soviet state treasury notes, introduced during Khrushchev's monetary reform which redenominated the ruble 10:1 (replacing 10 old rubles with 1 new ruble). The series was designed to remove Stalin-era currency and featured multilingual inscriptions reflecting the federal nature of the USSR's fifteen constituent republics. The 1961 series circulated until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, when it was replaced by Russian Federation currency. Pick 233a specifically refers to the 10-ruble denomination with the serial prefix format seen here. The serial number 'Эа 3599192' uses Cyrillic prefix 'Эа'. Goznak (Гознак), the Soviet state printing works, produced all USSR banknotes. IMPORTANT: The provided images show a MISMATCHED PAIR - the front is a 10-ruble note while the back is from a 5-ruble note (evident from both the denomination numeral '5' and the text 'ПЯТЬ РУБЛЕЙ'). The cataloguing above reflects the FRONT (10-ruble) note's characteristics.

Catalogue

Collector references

Pick # 233a
Krause ID
Rarity tier common
Series range 1961–1991
Provenance

How it came to me

Acquired date
Acquired from
Acquired price
Currency
Condition
Grade VF
Serial number Эа 3599192
Serial prefix Эа

Circulated note with visible handling, some discoloration and soiling, edges show wear, no major tears visible

Valuation

What it's worth now

$2–$8
Type default range $2–$8
Valuation history (1)
datelowhighcurrencysourcenote
2026-05-10 07:09:30 2.0 8.0 USD ai from claude-sonnet-4-5
Technical

History & extractions

AI extractions (2)
anthropic · claude-opus-4-5 2026-05-10 07:09:30
status: ok · step 2 · $0.1961 · 7395↓ + 1136↑ tokens
anthropic · claude-sonnet-4-5 2026-05-10 07:09:30
status: ok · step 1 · $0.0446 · 7395↓ + 1492↑ tokens
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