A banknote is a paper currency. Paper money was invented in China in the 8th century. They immediately provoked inflation in the country. In the 18th century, the Englishman John Law proposed the introduction of banknotes in Europe. But his idea was rejected by the monarchs. Only in France was a bank established that exchanged gold and silver coins for banknotes. Part of the funds went to Law, the rest - to the French government. But soon the bank's customers began to close their deposits in a hurry. The state bank could not stand the competition with the private ones. Lo's system was more like a pyramid scheme than a regular currency.
Paper money of the Russian Empire
The habit of adopting everything French was characteristic of Russia at that time. Banknotes, as money, were used in the country in the XVIII-XIX centuries. The huge expenditures of the state on wars led to a shortage of silver. Large payments were made in small copper coins. To collect 500 rubles, I had to equip a whole wagon.
State Bank
Assignation - what is it? For the first time the founding decreeof the state bank was signed by Peter III in 1762. But because of the palace coup, banknotes were introduced only after 7 years. In 1769, Catherine II established the Assignation Bank. It had branches in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Soon, exchange offices began to open in other regions of the country. The number of banknotes should not exceed the number of coins in the bank. But this rule was observed only in the early years. Unlike a French bank, no interest was paid for keeping money in Russian banknotes.
Course
Banknotes - what is it? Banknotes were issued in denominations of 25, 50, 75 and 100 rubles. The date of issue was stamped on the banknotes. Currently, the date of the sample is printed on paper money. Only we althy people could afford to buy banknotes. Despite the presence of watermarks, the first banknotes were easily forged. The denomination of the banknotes was written in words. Banknotes of 25 rubles were converted into 75-ruble notes with a simple pen. In 1780, the export of paper money abroad was banned. In 1781, money in denominations of 75 rubles was withdrawn from circulation. Banknotes issued before 1773 are now very rare.
Paper money was only exchanged for copper coins. An increase in the issue of banknotes led to a decrease in the exchange rate of copper money. As a result, two monetary units appeared in the country: silver and banknote ruble. At the same time, the second of them was practically not provided with anything. At the end of the 17th century, the rate of paper moneycollapsed sharply. The official rate set by the state was significantly different from the real one. For a paper ruble they gave only 20 kopecks in silver. In 1787, the government decides to reduce the number of banknotes to 10 million rubles. But the provision of military spending leads to an increase in the money supply to 58 million. New banknotes were issued in denominations of 5 and 10 rubles. In 1810, to demonstrate a real decrease in the money supply, banknotes were burned right at the door of the St. Petersburg Bank.
Fake Napoleon money
Assignation - what is it? During the Patriotic War of 1812, France issued fake Russian banknotes to undermine the empire's economy. Napoleon had extensive experience in carrying out such operations. Sacks of counterfeit banknotes were used by soldiers to settle accounts with the local population. The fakes often surpassed the original in paper quality. They differed from the real ones in spelling errors and typographic signatures. On real money, signatures were made with real ink. In 1840, as a result of the monetary reform, banknotes were completely withdrawn from circulation. They were replaced with credit notes.