Rubles and Dollars

[Paul Richardson]

Ani

We often come up against this. Here are a few tools.

1. If you can find a historical reference point, for what rubles were worth internationally at the time (in dollars, francs, some precious metal), you are off to a good start. One good source of that can be foreign travelers to Russia and their memoirs. Or do some reading on history of Russian currency to find a near to your target point at which rubles were convertible to X amount of a precious metal, etc. {http://som.yale.edu/~drey/rusbonds/rus_ms.htm}

2. Once you have that and can establish a contemporaneous dollar value, these are good tools 
http://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare/result.php
http://www.orst.edu/Dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/sahr.htm

3. Here, meanwhile, are official exchange rates back to 1924.
http://www.cbr.ru/currency_base/OldVal.aspx

Paul Richardson
Russian Life magazine

p.s. Here, btw, is an interesting discussion in a Dostoyevsky forum that arrives at 1R 1860s = $6 modern.
http://www.fyodordostoevsky.com/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=198.0

Another source came up with just under $7 twenty years earlier:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1880323

On Sep 3, 2012, at 6:07 PM, SEELANGS automatic digest system wrote:

> Date:    Mon, 3 Sep 2012 22:05:01 +0000
> From:    "Kokobobo, Ani" <akokobobo at KU.EDU>
> Subject: the value of 19th c. rubles
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions on how to explain the monetary value of nineteenth-century rubles?  I haven't found the current conversion rates especially helpful in this case.  I am sure it is all relative, but what I'm looking for is a way to match up 19th c. monetary sums to a value system that students would understand.
> 
> To provide a concrete example, in _The Idiot_ there are several sums of money that are mentioned -- e.g. the 100,000 ruble packet, or the 18,000 rubles Rogozhin starts with.  Is it the equivalent of $100,000 in our current rates?  Is it substantially more?  Much less?  Can anyone share how they contextualize these kinds of amounts into a productive narrative for students?  Might there be any useful resources/references you use?
> 
> I realize the question is diffuse, so any kind of suggestions would be helpful.  Please reply off list.
> 
> Gratefully,
> Ani
> ******************************************
> Ani Kokobobo
> Assistant Professor
> Slavic Languages and Literatures
> University of Kansas
> 1445 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 2138
> Lawrence, KS 66045
> Phone: 785-864-2346
> http://www2.ku.edu/~slavic/people/kokobobo.shtml

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