Russia is one of the world’s oldest producers of paper money. The first notes, called state assignats, were issued in 1769 and denominated in rubles, which remain the official currency. In 1843 the assignat system was replaced by the state credit note system. In 1897 Russia adopted the gold standard. Older notes were destroyed as the public exchanged them for new notes, and as a result pre-1898 Russian paper money is particularly scarce. The 20th century saw multiple major eras of paper money production as the county transitioned through the Russian Revolution, two world wars, and the rise and ultimate dissolution of the Soviet Union. Today paper money denominated in rubles is issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
