Russian ruble

The ruble or rouble (Russian: рубль rublʹ, plural рубли rubli;(code: RUB) is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union before their dissolution. Belarus and Transnistria use currencies with the same name. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kopeks (sometimes transliterated kopecks, or copecks; Russian: копейка, kopéyka; plural: копейки, kopéyki). The ISO 4217 code is RUB or 643; the former code, RUR or 810, refers to the Russian ruble before the 1998 redenomination (1 RUB = 1000 RUR).

On December 11, 2013, the official symbol for the ruble became RUB, a Cyrillic letter er with a single added horizontal stroke,though the abbreviation руб. is in wide use. In Unicode version 7.0 it was assigned the encoding U+20BD ₽ ruble sign (HTML: ₽).


Coins

First ruble
At the beginning of the 19th century, copper coins were issued for ¼, ½, 1, 2 and 5 kopeks, with silver 5, 10, 25 and 50 kopeks and 1 ruble and gold 5 although production of the 10 ruble coin ceased in 1806. Silver 20 kopeks were introduced in 1820, followed by copper 10 kopeks minted between 1830 and 1839, and copper 3 kopeks introduced in 1840. Between 1828 and 1845, platinum 3, 6 and 12 rubles were issued. In 1860, silver 15 kopecs were introduced, due to the use of this denomination (equal to 1 złoty) in Poland, whilst, in 1869, gold 3 rubles were introduced. In 1886, a new gold coinage was introduced consisting of 5 and 10 ruble coins. This was followed by another in 1897. In addition to smaller 5 and 10 ruble coins, 7½ and 15 ruble coins were issued for a single year, as these were equal in size to the previous 5 and 10 ruble coins. The gold coinage was suspended in 1911, with the other denominations produced until the First World War.

Constantine ruble
The Constantine ruble (Russian: константиновский рубль, pronounced "konstantinovsky rubl'") is a rare silver coin of the Russian Empire bearing the profile of Constantine, the brother of emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. Its manufacture was being prepared at the Saint Petersburg Mint during the brief Interregnum of 1825, but it was never minted in numbers, and never circulated in public. The fact of its existence became known in 1857 in foreign publications.

Last Soviet ruble
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation introduced new coins in 1992 in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 rubles. The coins depict the double headed eagle above the legend "Банк России." The 1 and 5 rubles were minted in brass-clad steel, the 10 and 20 rubles in cupro-nickel and the 50 and 100 rubles were bimetallic (aluminium-bronze and cupro-nickel-zinc). In 1993, aluminium-bronze 50 rubles and cupro-nickel-zinc 100 rubles were issued, and the material of 10 and 20 rubles was changed to nickel-plated steel. In 1995 the material of 50 rubles was changed to brass-plated steel, but the coins were minted with the old date 1993. As high inflation persisted, the lowest denominations disappeared from circulation and the other denominations became rarely used.

During this period the commemorative one-ruble coin is regularly issued. It's practically identical in size and weight to a 5 Swiss franc coin (worth approx. €3 / US$4). For this reason, there have been several instances of (now worthless) ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland.

(New) ruble (1998)

Currently Circulating Coins
Value Composition Obverse Reverse Date of first minting
1 kopek Cupronickel-steel Saint George Value 1997
5 kopeks Cupronickel-steel Saint George Value 1997
10 kopeks Brass Saint George Value 1997
10 kopeks Brass plated steel Saint George Value 2006
50 kopeks Brass Saint George Value 1997
50 kopeks Brass plated steel Saint George Value 2009
1 ruble Cupronickel emblem of the Bank of Russia Value 1997
1 ruble Nickel plated steel emblem of the Bank of Russia Value 2009
2 ruble Cupronickel emblem of the Bank of Russia Value 1997
2 ruble Nickel plated steel emblem of the Bank of Russia Value 2009
5 ruble Cupronickelclad-copper emblem of the Bank of Russia Value 1997
5 ruble Nickel plated steel emblem of the Bank of Russia Value 2009
10 rubles Brass plated steel emblem of the Bank of Russia Value 2009