Financial hunger.
The first paper money - banknotes - were issued in Russia in 1796. Unlike the gold coins that existed at the same time, they did not have a fixed exchange rate. Their value often fluctuated, and they were almost always valued lower (sometimes several times) than their nominal value. In the first third of the 19th century, Russia operated a bimetallic system, where gold, silver, and banknotes circulated simultaneously. In the 1830s, preparations began for a monetary reform, which was carried out from 1839 to 1843. The issuance of banknotes was completely halted, and the main state payment medium became silver coins (monometallism). By the beginning of 1840, three types of paper money were in circulation in Russia: banknotes, deposit tickets (certificates for silver deposited in banks), and credit tickets. At that time, the following metal coins were in circulation: kopecks (1 kopeck, 2 kopecks, 5 kopecks); silver coins (10, 20 kopecks), half a ruble (25 kopecks), and a ruble; gold coins - imperial (10 rubles) and half-imperial (5 rubles). Copper coins with a silver exchange rate of 1/2, 1, 1/4, 2, and 3 kopecks were also in circulation. The state was then an absolute monopoly in banking.
The Crimean War caused a huge emission of paper money and, consequently, their inflation. Attempts to regulate it in 1862-1864 were fruitless: paper money never reached the value of silver. From 1867, the government embarked on an intensive accumulation of a reserve fund in precious metals. Over ten years, it reached more than 310 million rubles, increasing fourfold, while the amount of loans during the same time increased by only 10 percent. All this would have allowed financiers to hope for a complete stabilization of the ruble, but the Russo-Turkish War dispelled that hope.
The treasury notes issued in the 1850s often depicted massive architectural details like the portal of a princely palace. In the 1860s, portraits of Russian historical figures began to appear on banknotes: Dmitry Donskoy (5 rubles), Mikhail Fyodorovich - the founder of the Romanov dynasty (10 rubles), Alexei Mikhailovich (25 rubles), Peter I (50 rubles), and Catherine II (100 rubles). Small coins also had traditional designs: the denomination on one side and the imperial coat of arms or the monogram of the reigning emperor on the other. Larger coins featured portraits of kings, sometimes adorned with images of architectural monuments. The monograms of the reigning figures were printed on credit tickets.
Starting in 1881, the government again aimed to accumulate a significant gold reserve to stabilize the ruble, and soon Russia had an active foreign trade balance. Additionally, a series of government loans were issued, and gold production in the country sharply increased. All this, along with the expansion of the issuance of deposit receipts that could be freely exchanged for gold, allowed the gold reserve to increase more than 3.5 times from 1881 to 1897.
From 1887 to 1895, new monetary signs were issued - state credit tickets with nominal values of 1, 3, 5, 10, and 25 rubles. They were designed very elaborately: Russian commanders on the 1 and 3 ruble tickets, a heraldic shield with the imperial coat of arms and numerous ancient Russian weapons on the 5 ruble tickets. Banknotes were adorned with the Monomakh's Cap and a woman in rich princely attire.
A new monetary reform carried out from 1895 to 1897 introduced gold coins with a 150 percent exchange rate: 5 rubles in gold equaled 7.6 rubles in credit tickets. From 1897, the exchange rate of the credit ruble was set at 66 2/3 kopecks in gold, and the gold imperial, while maintaining its weight and appearance, had a nominal value of 15 rubles. Thus, the devaluation of the ruble was legislatively formalized. Since then, the minting of gold coins began very actively. In addition to the imperial and half-imperial coins, gold coins with denominations of 5 and 10 rubles appeared in circulation.
The new emission law of 1897 allowed the State Bank to issue 600 million rubles in credit tickets based on a fifty percent gold coverage of the emission. And from November 1897, credit tickets were fully equal in price to gold coins. With the introduction of gold monometallism, silver coins became a supplementary means of payment.
Serious damage to gold monometallism was inflicted by the events of 1904-1907 - the Russo-Japanese War and the revolution in Russia. There was a outflow of gold from the country, and the government was forced to resort to external loans, which helped preserve gold currency in Russia. However, the gold monometallism of the empire did not survive the next blow - Russia's entry into the world war. Large banknotes of 50, 100, and 500 rubles with portraits of representatives of the Romanov house - Nicholas I, Catherine II, and Peter I were issued from 1898.
From 1905, a gradual replacement of monetary signs with new ones began. New banknotes were issued: in 1905 - 3 rubles, in 1909 - 5, 10, and 25 rubles, in 1910 - 100 rubles, and in 1912 - 500 rubles. The largest of them featured kings again. The credit ticket with Peter I was particularly beautiful. On a continuous white field, a watermark in the form of the tsar's portrait was located at one edge. His likeness was also captured on the left side of the reverse of the bill: Peter is in knightly armor, with an order ribbon crossing his chest, and a cloak draped over his shoulder. The soft lines of the armor give a lightness to the figure of the tsar, harmoniously blending with other design elements of the bill. In particular, with a woman on the right side of this side of the bill, next to a white horse, who holds a scepter in her right hand and leans on a shield of whimsical heraldic shape with her left hand. The design of the monetary sign is filled with a mass of decorative elements: flowers, architectural details, and graphic decorations that create a sense of volume in the composition, giving it a memorable, romantic character. This credit ticket, as well as the 100-ruble note, can be considered a masterpiece of Russian art, the pinnacle of the creativity of the Expedition for the Preparation of State Papers. In the people, they were called "Romanov" notes.
However, the era of stable circulation of this money was short-lived. At the beginning of World War I, the government was forced to issue a lot of "excess" money to cover the deficit of the state budget. The exchange of credit tickets for gold ceased, and the ruble's exchange rate began to fall uncontrollably - inflation set in. The system of gold monometallism collapsed, and soon metal coins completely disappeared from circulation: people hoarded them for "better" times. By the end of 1915, ten-ruble gold coins were already being sold for 17 paper rubles. The issuance of change money for normal retail purchases was established. The government began issuing paper treasury notes with denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 50 kopecks. Marks for 10, 15, and 20 kopecks were also prepared, but they never entered circulation. They were based on postage stamps from 1913, issued for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov house, which featured portraits of Russian tsars on the front and the denomination and state coat of arms of the Russian Empire on the back.
Moreover, during the war, due to the increased load on the printing press, monetary signs with simplified designs began to be issued: starting in 1915, the paper ruble of the 1898 model was printed without an individual number, only with a series number. Inflation during the war constantly grew, and by February 1917, the credit ruble had fallen in value almost four times compared to pre-war times.