10 Rubles Soviet Ruble #458

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.

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.