The official currency of Russia is the Ruble (Рубль). It is one of the world's oldest currencies, first being used way, way back in the 15th century! The name comes from the way a silver coin was originally split in half when they coin was no longer useable. "The Russian word for 'split' or 'cut' is 'rubit' and the half coins were called 'rubles.'" Russian coins no longer come in halves, but hey, the name had already stuck.
In Czarist times the Ruble was backed by "serious stockpiles of gold" and in the Soviet era, there were some major price fixing going on. After the democratic revolution of 1991, price fixing was abandoned. So nowadays, the Ruble is reliant on market forces just like other forms of curency.
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1000 rubles (May 2007) |
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