Is it possible to imagine a state without an economy, and an economy without monetary circulation? Of course, it is impossible, even if the country is governed by the Provisional Government. But for the government, which threw off the hated shackles of tsarism, new banknotes were also needed. And they appeared. Exactly one hundred years ago, at the end of April 1917, it was decided to introduce into circulation banknotes, which still excite the imagination of historians and collectors: beautiful banknotes with an eagle and … a swastika.
The state emblem of Russia was placed on the new banknotes with a denomination of 250 and 1000 rubles, recommended for use by a legal meeting under the Provisional Government. The drawing of the new coat of arms was developed by the artist I. Ya. Bilibin. The eagle has become unusual - without a crown, scepter and orb. The 1000-ruble banknote depicted the Petrograd Tavrichesky Palace, where the State Duma deputies sat, and therefore the banknotes were immediately called “dummy” by the people. The peculiar “lining” of the proud bird in the form of a swastika was not immediately noticed.
The swastika itself is a very ancient symbol of different peoples. For example, among Buddhists, this is a sign of perfection. The Slavs called the swastika "Kolovrat" or "solstice". Allegorically, he symbolized the victory of light over darkness, life over death, reality over navu. The swastika was often present on household items, in the design of temples and icons, the vestments of clergymen, on the gravestones of Orthodox graves, in documents, seals and in architecture. And yet the swastika on banknotes is unusual.
Therefore, the versions of the appearance of this symbol were very diverse. Most of them were conspiracy theories. Some believed that these banknotes, on the eve of the February Revolution, were invented by the wife of Nicholas II, who worshiped not only Grigory Rasputin, but also the swastika as a symbol of family happiness. Others were inclined to believe that the ancient solar sign, symbolizing eternity and prosperity, seemed to guarantee "those benefits of life that the Provisional Government promised." There were those who competently argued that this was a clear allusion to the conspiracy of the Masonic backstage …
Krivotolki was fueled by the fact that the official description of banknotes of 1917 lacked the name itself - the swastika. The document said: "In the center of each of the two large rosettes there is a geometric ornament formed by crosswise intersecting wide stripes bent at right angles, at one end to the right, at the other, to the left." Ornate and incomprehensible. It is quite obvious that the document deliberately concealed the meaning of the ancient symbol and proposed its neutral interpretation as an "ornament".
And only recently have researchers been able to unravel an almost century-old mystery. This happened thanks to the revision of the funds of Goznak, which contains the richest materials on the history of the development and production of domestic and foreign coins and banknotes.
It turned out that the political order of the Provisional Government made in the spring of 1917 for the earliest possible production of paper money with new revolutionary symbols came into conflict with the technical capabilities of the Expedition of Storing State Papers. According to the technology of monetary production that existed at that time, the full cycle from sketch to finished circulation took at least a year. The process involved artists, engravers, electroplating technicians, printers … But there was no time to wait.
It was possible to accelerate the issue of new banknotes only by using ready-made matrices and printing forms from other issued, preparing for issue or, for some reason, not issued banknotes. As a result, the developments on the planned issue of banknotes of the Mongolian National Bank, planned shortly before the revolution, were put into operation. The Goznak special fund has preserved samples of fully printed banknotes for Mongolia in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 25 and 100 rubles of the 1916 model. The drawing of these banknotes was approved by the Minister of Finance of Tsarist Russia P. L. Barcom. For obvious reasons, the issue of prepared banknotes for Mongolia was not carried out. However, the developments were not in vain. The new Russia 1000 ruble bank note entered circulation on June 10, and the 250 ruble ticket - on September 8, 1917. The banknote of the Mongolian National Bank with a denomination of 25 rubles served as the prototype for the 1000-ruble note. The details of its design, including the Buddhist "knots of infinity" on the obverse and three swastikas on the reverse, became a kind of "Mongolian heritage", which had to be masked with denomination figures and officially designated in the description of the banknote as ornamental details.
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The 250 ruble note was obtained by changing the 3 ruble denomination of the Mongolian National Bank. They also tried to make Buddhist symbols less noticeable, covering them with the image of a two-headed eagle, numbers and inscriptions. However, the large swastika behind the eagle remained very noticeable and began to be perceived as a significant symbol specially placed on the new revolutionary banknote.
Alexey Kalugin
