Bank.notes

Collection Soviet Union #503

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10 Rubles Soviet Ruble

Soviet Union 1961 1946_1989 VF P-233a Needs review ✦ AI 65%
mismatched_pair
Front · IMG_7201.HEIC cropped
Back · IMG_7202.HEIC cropped
Pair check: not yet checked
Identity

Where & when

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

What's on the note

Front portrait
Reverse subject Spasskaya Tower of Moscow Kremlin
Watermark Hammer and sickle with stars
Color palette #d4917b,#e6d5a8,#8b4513
Themes architecture,statesman
Language / script Cyrillic, Latin

Front: State emblem of the USSR (hammer and sickle within wreath) at center. The denomination '10 РУБЛЕЙ' (10 Rubles) appears in multilingual text representing all fifteen Soviet republics, including Russian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Moldovan, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. This multilingual design was introduced in the 1961 currency reform to emphasize the unity of the Soviet republics. The text 'ПОДДЕЛКА БИЛЕТОВ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО БАНКА СССР ПРЕСЛЕДУЕТСЯ ПО ЗАКОНУ' (Forgery of State Bank of the USSR notes is prosecuted by law) serves as an anti-counterfeiting warning.

Back: Spasskaya Tower (Savior Tower) of the Moscow Kremlin, the most famous of the Kremlin towers, built in 1491 by Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The tower houses the Kremlin Clock and serves as the main entrance to Red Square. The State coat of arms of the USSR appears at top left. The year '1961' is printed on the lower left, marking the major currency reform that redenominated the ruble at a rate of 10:1. The text 'ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ КАЗНАЧЕЙСКИЙ БИЛЕТ СССР' (State Treasury Note of the USSR) appears across the top, and 'Пять рублей' (Five rubles) appears prominently at center, with the denomination repeated at right.

Production

How it was made

Issuer State Bank of the USSR
Issuer (native) Государственный Банк СССР
Printer Goznak
Engraver
Material paper
Dimensions (mm) 150x75

Security features: microprint,intaglio,raised_print

Geography

Where in the world

Geography unknown for Soviet Union.

The story

Background & history

This note belongs to the Fourth series of Soviet banknotes, issued following the 1961 monetary reform under Nikita Khrushchev. The reform redenominated the ruble at 10:1 (10 old rubles = 1 new ruble) and aimed to simplify accounting and combat inflation. The 1961 series was the first to feature all fifteen Soviet republic languages, reflecting the official policy of national unity. These notes remained in circulation until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The serial number prefix 'мБ' (mB in Latin) indicates a specific print run. The note shown here displays denomination '10' on the front but '5' on the back, which suggests a mismatched pair (see flags). Standard 10-ruble notes of this series feature olive-green tones and depict Lenin on the front, not this design.

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 мБ 3917567
Serial prefix мБ

Circulated with visible folds and handling wear. Some soiling on both sides. Paper remains intact without tears.

Valuation

What it's worth now

$5–$15
Type default range $5–$15
Valuation history (1)
datelowhighcurrencysourcenote
2026-05-10 07:10:29 5.0 15.0 USD ai from claude-sonnet-4-5
Technical

History & extractions

AI extractions (2)
anthropic · claude-opus-4-5 2026-05-10 07:10:29
status: ok · step 2 · $0.2041 · 7395↓ + 1243↑ tokens
anthropic · claude-sonnet-4-5 2026-05-10 07:10:29
status: ok · step 1 · $0.0435 · 7395↓ + 1418↑ tokens
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