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> - Interesting factoid about the word 'ruble'. It's a measurement term for silver…
ruble, also spelled rouble, the monetary unit of Russia (and the former Soviet Union) and Belarus (spelled rubel).
The origins of the Russian ruble as a designation of silver weight can be traced to the 13th century. In 1704 Tsar Peter I (the Great) introduced the first regular minting of the ruble in silver. During the 18th century it was debased, and, after the middle of the 19th century, the rapidly depreciating paper money predominated in Russia’s circulation. In 1897 a gold ruble was substituted for the silver one, marking the change to a gold standard. Early in World War I, gold coins disappeared from circulation, and notes became inconvertible. During the period of the Russian Revolution and civil war, an inflation of astronomical dimensions made the ruble virtually worthless. A reform carried out during 1922–23 reestablished an orderly monetary system. The chervonets was introduced as the standard unit and the basis of the state bank’s note issue; the chervonets ruble, corresponding to one-tenth of a chervonets, was made a unit of reckoning. The ruble remained a term of denomination for treasury notes and silver coins. In the post-World War II reform of 1947, the chervonets was abandoned as the monetary standard and the ruble restored.