The kolion is a local currency created to support the farmers of Kolionovo, a small town located 125 km south-east of Moscow. The currency gained notoriety after the creator of the currency, Mikhail Shlyapnikov, was arrested and the kolion was declared illegal tender in Russia.
Kolion notes are one-sided and come in denominations of one, three, five, ten, twenty-five and fifty Kolion notes. The printed money is multicoloured and each note contains the words;
“This note is the property of the Kolionovo exchequer. It does not undergo inflation, deflation, stagnation or other falsifications. It is not a means of enrichment or speculation. It is supported by the resources of Kolionovo. Or maybe it’s a fake…”[1]
The kolion was created by Mikhail Shlyapnikov in 2014.[2] The kolion is pegged so that 1 kolion is equivalent to 10 kg of potatoes[3] and 2 kolions are pegged at 10 eggs. Because the farmers of Kolionovo received rubles only twice a year, the kolion was created as an alternative currency accepted only in Kolionovo.[4]
In June 2015, Shlyapnikov was arrested and the kolion was declared illegal.[5] [6]
8. Russian Farmer Alters Rural Economy With Virtual Currency, as Moscow Watches Warily. by Thomas Grove. The Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2018