| Currency Name: | Ruble |
| Image 1: | Rouble-1961-Paper-1-Obverse.jpg |
| Image Title 1: | Obverse of Rbl 1 banknote (1961) |
| Image 2: | 1 ruble 1988.png |
| Image Title 2: | Rbl 1 coin (1988) |
| Iso Code: | SUR |
| Date Of Introduction: | 1922 |
| Replaced Currency: | Imperial Russian ruble |
| Date Of Withdrawal: | 1992–1994 |
| Replaced By Currency: | see below |
| Using Countries: | ---- |
| Subunit Name 1: | kopeck (копейка) |
| Symbol: | руб or р |
| Symbol Comment: | (in Cyrillic) [1] [2] or (in Latin) |
| Symbol Subunit 1: | коп. or к. in Cyrillic kop., cop. or k (in Latin) |
| Plural: | rubli (nom. pl.), rubley (gen. pl.) |
| Plural Subunit 1: | kopeyki (nom. pl.), kopeyek (gen. pl.) |
| Used Coins: | 1 kop, 2 kop, 3 kop, 5 kop, 10 kop, 15 kop, 20 kop, 50 kop, Rbl 1, Rbls 3, Rbls 5, Rbls 10 |
| Used Banknotes: | Rbl 1, Rbls 3, Rbls 5, Rbls 10, Rbls 25, Rbls 50, Rbls 100, Rbls 200, Rbls 500, Rbls 1,000 |
| Issuing Authority: | State Bank of the Soviet Union |
| Printer: | Goznak |
| Mint: | Leningrad (1921–1941; 1946–1991) Krasnokamsk (1941–46) Moscow (1982–1991) |
| Obsolete: | yes |
The ruble or rouble (; Russian: рубль|r=rubl'|p=rublʲ) was the currency of the Soviet Union. It was introduced in 1922 and replaced the Imperial Russian ruble. One ruble was divided into 100 kopecks (Russian: копейка, pl. копейки – kopeyka, kopeyki). Soviet banknotes and coins were produced by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise (or Goznak) in Moscow and Leningrad.
In addition to regular cash rubles, other types of rubles were also issued, such as several forms of convertible ruble, transferable ruble, clearing ruble, Vneshtorgbank cheque, etc.; also, several forms of virtual rubles (called "cashless ruble", Russian: безналичный рубль) were used for inter-enterprise accounting and international settlement in the Comecon zone.[3]
In 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Soviet ruble continued to be used in the post-Soviet states, forming a "ruble zone", until it was replaced with the Russian ruble in September 1993.
See main article: Ruble.
The word ruble is derived from the Slavic verb Slavic languages: рубить, rubit', i.e., 'to chop'. Historically, a "ruble" was a piece of a certain weight chopped off a silver ingot (grivna), hence the name.
The word kopeck or copeck (in Russian: Russian: копейка kopeyka) is a diminutive form of the Russian kop'yo (Russian: копьё)—a spear. The reason for this is that a horseman armed with a spear was stamped on one of the faces of the coin. The first kopeck coins, minted at Novgorod and Pskov from about 1534 onwards, show a horseman with a spear. From the 1540s onwards the horseman bears a crown, and doubtless the intention was to represent Ivan the Terrible, who was Grand Prince of all Russia until 1547, and Tsar thereafter. Subsequent mintings of the coin, starting in the 18th century, bear instead Saint George striking down a serpent.
The Soviet currency had its own name in all the languages of the Soviet Union, often different from its Russian designation. All banknotes had the currency name and their nominal printed in the languages of every Soviet Republic. This naming is preserved in modern Russia; for example: Tatar for 'ruble' and 'kopeck' are Tatar: сум (sum) and Tatar: тиен (tiyen). The current names of several currencies of Central Asia are simply the local names of the ruble. Finnish last appeared on 1947 banknotes since the Karelo-Finnish SSR was dissolved in 1956.
The name of the currency in the languages of the fifteen republics, in the order they appeared in the banknotes:
| Language | In local language | IPA Transcription | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ruble | kopeck | ruble | kopeck | ||||||
| width=20% | Russian | width=20% | Russian: рубль | width=20% | Russian: копейка | width=20% | pronounced as /ru/ | width=20% | pronounced as /ru/ |
| Belarusian | Belarusian: рубель | Belarusian: капейка | in Belarusian pronounced as /ˈrubʲɛlʲ/ | in Belarusian pronounced as /kaˈpʲɛjka/ | |||||
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian: карбованець | Ukrainian: копійка | in Ukrainian pronounced as /kɐrˈbovɑnet͡sʲ/ | in Ukrainian pronounced as /koˈpijkɐ/ | |||||
| Uzbek | Uzbek: сўм | Uzbek: тийин | in Uzbek pronounced as /som/ | in Uzbek pronounced as /tijin/ | |||||
| Kazakh | Kazakh: сом | Kazakh: тиын | in Kazakh pronounced as /swʊm/ | in Kazakh pronounced as /tɪjən/ | |||||
| Kyrgyz | Kirghiz; Kyrgyz: сом | Kirghiz; Kyrgyz: тыйын | in Kirghiz; Kyrgyz pronounced as /som/ | in Kirghiz; Kyrgyz pronounced as /ˈtɯjɯn/ | |||||
| Tajik | Tajik: сӯм | Tajik: тин | in Persian pronounced as /sɵm/ | in Persian pronounced as /tin/ | |||||
| Georgian | Georgian: მანეთი | Georgian: კაპიკი | in Georgian pronounced as /manetʰi/ | in Georgian pronounced as /kʼapʼikʼi/ | |||||
| Azerbaijani | Azerbaijani: манат | Azerbaijani: гәпик | in Azerbaijani pronounced as /mɑnɑt/ | in Azerbaijani pronounced as /ɡæpik/ | |||||
| Turkmen | Turkmen: манат | Turkmen: көпүк | in Turkmen pronounced as /mɑnɑt/ | in Turkmen pronounced as /kœpʏk/ | |||||
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian: rublis | Lithuanian: kapeika | in Lithuanian pronounced as /ˈrʊbɫɪs/ | in Lithuanian pronounced as /kɐˈpɛɪkɐ/ | |||||
| Latvian | Latvian: rublis | Latvian: kapeika | in Latvian pronounced as /ˈrublis/ | in Latvian pronounced as /ˈkapɛika/ | |||||
| Estonian | Estonian: rubla | Estonian: kopikas | in Estonian pronounced as /ˈrublɑ/ | in Estonian pronounced as /ˈkopikɑs/ | |||||
| Finnish | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: rupla | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: kopeekka | in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /ˈruplɑ/ | in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /ˈkopeːkːɑ/ | |||||
| Romanian | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: рублэ/Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: rublă | Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: копейкэ/Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: copeică | in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /ˈrublə/ | in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /koˈpejkə/ | |||||
| Armenian | Armenian: ռուբլի | Armenian: կոպեկ | in Armenian pronounced as /ˈrubli/ | in Armenian pronounced as /ˈkɔpɛk/ | |||||
Note that the scripts for Uzbek, Azerbaijani, Turkmen and gradually Kazakh have switched from Cyrillic to Latin since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Moldovan has switched to Latin and is once again referred to as Romanian.
These fifteen names derive from four roots: