Paper Money Catalogs Used by Russian Collectors

by M. Istomin I.B.N.S. Jornanal Volume 36,#11997

RYABCHENKO CATALOG

1. Ryabchenko Catalog is a general catalog of RUSSIAN (territory of the former Soviet Union) notes (central, provincial, city and private issues) and includes also some notes of adjacent territories which a Russian (Soviet) collector considers as "his own.' The catalog has 670 pages and 27,988 entries. Texts, including a preface with Ukrainian historical background, are in Russian. Very few black and white illustrations are included, The notes are evaluated for one grade only, in $US. It is supposed that the collector knows to what grade the cited price refers, so the level of subjectivity in pricing for different grades is much higher than in the Pick catalog. Notes are marked with the Russian letter 'F" if contemporary forgeries are known. Modem local notes from the period from 1987 to 1992, the socalled kolhoz notes, are also placed in this catalog (1995 issue), which was first issued in 1991. The current issue is the fullest catalog of Russian notes at present and is logically and systematically organized. Additions have been issued recently.

CHUCHIN (CHOUCHIN) CATALOG

2. Chouchin F.G. was a commissioner for philately and bank notes in Soviet Russia in the 20s.
As the government was in need of funds, the commissioner was charged with finding resources by organizing a campaign of promotion and sales of material in a network of shops. The main philatelic shop was located in Moscow at NY 3, 1 st Yamskaya-Tverskaya St. (The building still exists near the "Mayakovskaya" subway station in the center of Moscow.) This was also the office of the commissioner and of the journal The Soviet Philatelist, of which he was a managing director. The material was actively sold abroad. Chouchin was also the editor, at that time, of the 3rd edition (the 2nd edition had been rather primitive) of a catalog of Russian paper money, 1769-1927, in which the notes are evaluated in silver kopecks and rubles (one ruble was a silver coin of 20 gm of weight, 90% purity) for one grade only. It seems that in the 1920s the collectors strove to put only the best quality notes in their collections and, in fact, the catalog was actually prepared by a group of experts in bank notes. The language used is Russian. The section on Polish notes is in Russian and Polish. No illustrations are available. This small catalog (128 pages, with 12,240 entries) has been a desk book for generations of Soviet collectors of paper money. Later it was joined by the Kardakoff catalog, used to a lesser extent. The catalog under consideration is included in Pick's bibliography.
The notes sold through the Chouchin shops were stamped, usually in red, on the face or back, "FOR COLLECTION." According to the opinion prevailing here, the above stamp does not downgrade the stamped note.

KARDAKOFF CATALOG

3. The Kardakoff Catalog for Russian and Baltic States notes (444 pages in all) was published in Berlin in 1953, with text in Russian and in German. The notes are priced in gold DM for one grade only, Why only one grade? It seems that it is due to the fact that at that time exact grading was not so important. No illustrations of notes are available. However, at the end of the catalog (pp. 405-420) there is a large section which provides collectors with an orientation on the designations (signatures, etc.) seen on Bukhara and Khiva notes. One cannot help mentioning the inclusion in the catalog of an interesting section named 'Later Application of Russian Paper Money for Outside Purposes' (In German-Spaeterre Verwendung der Russischen Geldscheine fuer andere Zwecke). Notes are marked with the letter "F" if contemporary forgeries are known. This catalog is in the bibliography of the Pick catalog. The author was a veteran collector and dealer in paper money

4. Catalog of Russian Notes by V.M. Sokolov (from Rostov) and M.L. Ivanov (from Kharkov) issued at the end of the 20s in Sverdlovsk and Rostov on Don, comprising mainly private issues, is of limited use. It has been superseded by the Ryabchenko catalog.

5. Catalog of Paper Money of Russia, RSFSR and USSR by Evgueniy S. Kirichenko, published in Kiev in 1988, is of limited use now. It has been superseded by the Ryabchenko catalog. The notes are evaluated in relative units.

6. Catalog of Russian notes by Vadim A. Vlassov, published in Rostov on Don in 1992, (137 pages) is of limited use. The notes are evaluated in relative units.

7. Catalog of Paper Money Having Circulated during Soviet Power in the Period 1917-1960 by Evgueniy N. DeTilot, published in Odessa in 1988, is of limited use.

8. Catalog of Paper Money Having Circulated in the Ukraine by Dr. A.S. Badaev, published in Chernigov in 1991, is of limited use. The notes are evaluated in relative units.

9. USSR Paper Money (1917-1982) by M. Kowalski, 1983, in Polish, is of limited use.

10. Catalogue des Monnaies emises sur le Territoire de la Russie by Ch. Denis, published in Paris in 1927, IS NOT USED BY RUSSIAN COLLECTORS, although it is in the bibliography of the Pick catalog.

11. Catalog of Paper Money of Russia and USSR by Vassyukov et al., 1993, Moscow????

Summing up, one can tell that currently the Russian (former USSR) collectors use the following catalogs for practical purposes:
1. Pick catalog (Copies of RUSSIA pages are usually at hand at meetings.)
2. Ryabchenko catalog (The book is usually at hand at the meetings.)
For matters concerning any kind of clarification or unusual cases, the Chuchin and Kardakoff catalogs are consulted. Other sources are of rather limited application. One cannot help stating that the Pick catalog has acquired significance only in recent years, since dollar prices had no meaning in a totalitarian state of universal state property. It should be mentioned, however, that only catalogs with evaluations are included in this article, and not JUST BOOKS on Russian paper money. Many older generation collectors in Russia state that they do not need any catalog for evaluation, as their practical experience surpasses that of the authors of the catalogs. Are they right?

M. Istomin
Kharkov
Ukraine

You can order the catalogue
Ryabchenko 'Complete Catalogue of Paper Banknotes and Bills of Russia,USSR,CIS countries (1769-1994)'
(Kiev, 1995 in Russian language)
For sale = $15.00
Postage = $4.00
Address orders to: shooll@fcmail.com