Bank.notes

Collection Soviet Union #502

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5 Rubles (front) / 10 Rubles (back) Soviet Ruble (SUR)

Soviet Union 1961 1946_1989 VF Needs review ✦ AI 70%
mismatched_pair
Front · IMG_7199.HEIC cropped
Back · IMG_7200.HEIC cropped
Pair check: not yet checked
Identity

Where & when

Country Soviet Union
Currency Soviet Ruble (SUR)
Denomination 5 Rubles (front) / 10 Rubles (back)
Series name 1961 Reform Series
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 Vladimir Lenin
Reverse subject Vladimir Lenin
Watermark
Color palette #d4a574,#c89b7c,#8b6b5c
Themes statesman,communist_ideology
Language / script Cyrillic,Latin

Front: Five Rubles note from the 1961 Soviet monetary reform series. The front features the denomination in large Cyrillic text ('ПЯТЬ РУБЛЕЙ') with multilingual denomination text in seven languages of the Soviet republics (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Uzbek, Kazakh, Georgian, and others), reflecting the USSR's multinational character. The 1961 reform redenominated the ruble at 10:1, with these notes designed to reflect Soviet ideological unity and economic modernization under Khrushchev.

Back: Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), founder of the Soviet Union and leader of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Lenin's portrait appears on the back of this 10 Rubles note, printed in brown-red tones. He served as head of the Soviet government from 1917 until his death in 1924, and his image became the standard motif on Soviet currency throughout the USSR's existence. The State Emblem of the USSR appears at upper left.

Production

How it was made

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

Security features: intaglio,microprint

Geography

Where in the world

Geography unknown for Soviet Union.

The story

Background & history

This appears to be a mismatched pair: the front is from a 5 Rubles note while the back is from a 10 Rubles note, both from the 1961 Soviet Reform Series. The 1961 monetary reform was implemented on January 1, 1961, exchanging old rubles for new ones at a rate of 10:1. This series remained in circulation until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The multilingual denomination text on the front reflects the Soviet policy of recognizing the languages of the constituent republics. The serial number visible on the front (ыП 4792463) uses Cyrillic prefix letters, a standard feature of Soviet banknotes. Both notes were printed by Goznak, the Soviet state printing works. These notes became demonetized following the collapse of the USSR and the introduction of Russian Federation currency. The 1961 series is common and widely collected as representative examples of late Soviet-era currency design.

Catalogue

Collector references

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

How it came to me

Acquired date
Acquired from
Acquired price
Currency
Condition
Grade VF
Serial number ыП 4792463
Serial prefix ыП

Circulated note with visible wear, some soiling, center fold, but no major tears or damage

Valuation

What it's worth now

$1–$5
Type default range $1–$5
Valuation history (1)
datelowhighcurrencysourcenote
2026-05-10 07:10:23 1.0 5.0 USD ai from claude-sonnet-4-5
Technical

History & extractions

AI extractions (2)
anthropic · claude-opus-4-5 2026-05-10 07:10:23
status: ok · step 2 · $0.1951 · 7395↓ + 1123↑ tokens
anthropic · claude-sonnet-4-5 2026-05-10 07:10:23
status: ok · step 1 · $0.0415 · 7395↓ + 1287↑ tokens
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