Rubles and Dollars

[John Dunn]

Finding information about nineteenth-century exchange rates is difficult.  The only source I can lay my hands on is a table at the back of A. Alexandrow's Polnyj russko-anglijskij slovar' (SPb., 1885), according to which a silver rouble was worth 3s.2d. in Sterling.*  Since at that time a U.S. dollar was worth about 4 shillings, this would make a silver rouble worth about 80 U.S. cents.  This value seems remarkably high, but it does receive a degree of indirect confirmation in V.V. Zvarich, Numismaticheskij slovar' (L'vov, 1975); according to this source the silver content of a rouble in the nineteenth century was 18 gr., whereas that of a U.S. silver dollar was 24.057 gr., suggesting an exchange rate of about 75 cents to the rouble.   

The matter is complicated by the existence of multiple exchange rates.  Until the middle of the 19th century paper roubles (ассигнации) circulated with a lower value than that of silver roubles; in 1838 the exchange rate was fixed at 3.5 paper roubles to one silver rouble.  And according to Alexandrow gold roubles carried a premium: a 5 rouble gold coin (полуимпериал) was worth 5.15 roubles in silver. 

John Dunn.

*For those who were were sadly deprived in childhood of the pleasures of coming to terms with the delights of £sd: 12 pence (12d.) = 1 shilling (1s.); 20 shillings = 1 pound Sterling (£1).  
________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Paul Richardson [paulr at RUSSIANLIFE.COM]
Sent: 04 September 2012 03:20
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: [SEELANGS] Rubles and Dollars

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 If you can find a historical reference point, for what rubles were worth internationally at the time (in dollars, francs, some precious metal), you are off to a good start.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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