Numismatics
The Gold Chervonets: The Story of a Peasant Currency Rejected by the World
The birth of the golden cherub amidst chaos
As is our custom, we try to connect the present with the past and currencies with history... and on the occasion of May Day. International Workers' Day We will tell you about a story that was linked to workers and peasants in one way or another; it is the story of the Golden Chervonets of the Soviet Union.
The chervonets first appeared as the currency of Soviet Russia in 1922 amidst the economic turmoil gripping the country. The move away from the ruble was intended to solidify a complete break with everything associated with Imperial Russia, and the first chervonets were issued as banknotes.
In 1923, the gold chervonets was minted. It was intended for use in purchasing foreign products, making it more of a currency for foreign trade than for domestic circulation. The gold chervonets bore Soviet communist slogans; its front featured an image of a peasant sowing his land with factory chimneys in the background, while the back bore Karl Marx's famous phrase, "Workers of the world, unite!",
The schervonets had the same weight and gold purity as the ten-ruble note, and therefore, when the ruble was reintroduced in the Soviet Union, people began referring to the ten-ruble note as a schervonets.
Ideological conflict: Why was the currency rejected globally?
Many foreign countries refused to accept the gold chervonets due to the communist propaganda they carried, forcing the Soviet government to return to minting coins of the Russian Empire bearing the image of Tsar Nicholas II, whom the Soviets had executed a few years earlier.
The gold chervonets were minted in 1923 and 1924, but with the same date, 1923. It reappeared between 1975 and 1982 (see article image), but this time as a bullion currency for investment and as a source of income for the Soviet state, which was suffering economically.
The chevrontz reappeared in 2023 on its centenary, when the Russian government minted a ten-ruble gold coin bearing the image of a peasant from the original chevrontz in 1923.
Gold knows no ideology
Did you know that the Soviet government, which arose from the ruins of the empire, was forced in the 1920s to mint gold coins bearing the image of the Soviet leader? Emperor Nicholas II (Whom they executed 5 years before)?
the reason: European and American banks questioned the "legitimacy" of the communist Chervonets and refused to deal with them, while they trusted the Tsarist ruble. Therefore, secretly, the Soviets used the old Tsarist molds to mint new gold coins, enabling them to purchase Western machinery and build their communist state!
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