The Harbin ruble , also the ruble of the Russian-Asian Bank , and the Croatian ruble, is the monetary unit issued by the Russian-Asian Bank in Harbin and on the territory of the CER railway transfer from December 1918 to 1920 .
Banknotes of the Russian-Asian Bank were printed in the USA by the private company American Bank Note Company and issued in denominations of 50 kopecks, 1, 3, 10 and 100 rubles.
The first bonds were seized at the bank's cash desk on December 15–20, 1918. Harbin rubles were accepted as payment of all fees of the CER and the bank itself without restrictions, becoming a full-fledged monetary unit. The Bank, at will, made free exchange of new bonuses for “Kerenki” and, in limited quantities, for paper credit Romanov rubles.
The people received new money called the Croatian rubles or Croatians by the name of the then General Manager of the CER Railway , D.L. Kh .
By 1920, the average exchange rate of the Croatian ruble was 11 rubles per 1 Romanov ruble in gold, while the rate of the credit (paper) Romanov ruble was 10 rubles per 1 ruble in gold.
From the beginning of 1920, hvatings were gradually withdrawn by the bank from circulation, however, they continued to remain in circulation for a long time and were quoted on the stock exchange.
Riddle in a couple clubs
In the enlarged image of the steam from under the wheels of the engine , the image of a female head is obvious. There are several theories regarding this figure:
- At first, it was believed that under the wheels of a steam locomotive the artist covertly depicted the head of the CER railway manager D.L. Horvat (1858-1937), who did not pay attention to this detail when he put the signature. But apparently the manager did not agree with the image in the clubs of the couple.
- Some believed that a certain American artist depicted his portrait on them. However, it is not clear why a living person should put his head under the wheels of a steam locomotive .
- A talented artist lived in Harbin . The day after the wedding, his bride got under the train that decapitated her. The artist was keenly worried about this drama. When work began on creating banknotes for the Russo-Asian Bank located in Harbin in 1918, this artist set about making originals on the back of all the notes. The originals liked the bank managers and General Horvath himself with his wife. None of them noticed in the clubs of steam under the wheels the head of a woman with her mouth open in a scream. Originals sent to the USA . All bills were engraved on them and completed the order.
On the signs of different virtues, the images of women in the clubs of the couple are very arbitrary and differ from each other. But the tragic facial expression has been preserved everywhere.
Literature
- Pogrebetskiy A.I. Money circulation and banknotes of the Far East during the period of war and revolution (1914-1924). Harbin: Ed. Society for the Study of the Manchurian Territory, 1924.