Money in Nos

[Kristi Groberg]

At 10:49 29.08.2007, you wrote:
>Can anyone help provide me with a rough idea of the values of the
>"krasnaia assignatsia" and "siniaia assignatsia" mentioned in Gogol's
>"Nos"?
>
>Numerical values would be fine, but more importantly, were these paltry,
>medium, or significant sums of money in their day?

Hi, Tony:

Here's what I know about assignats:  They were a type of Russian 
paper money printed before 1840.  After that it was very difficult to 
convert them to the Gold Standard (they could not be easured against 
the Pound Sterling either).  So wealthy people kept them in their 
safes and bank safety-deposit boxes after 1840 and used them almost 
as we would a savings bond or used them for donation funds just to 
get rid of them.  It's my understanding that aristocrats probably 
used them as a way to "launder" money.  One could also donate them 
to, say, an Imperial building project and then claim to have donated 
a sum that was no longer viable.

I'd like to know more, so anyone else who answers, please post to the list.

Kris Groberg

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