On the green ink side of the bill is a lot of Russian lettering and the bill has 1000 in the corners and on the left and right. There is a lot of Russian writing on it, and in the center, under the writing is a swastika. The date at the center bottom of the bill it has 1917, and the Serial # starts with a Russian letter that looks like a capital F (without the bottom flag of the F) and the rest of the Serial number is: O 180668. The Serial number is printed on the upper right and lower left corners of the bill on the green side.The scroll-work/artwork under the writing is very ornate.
The obverse has three colors: red, green & blue. There is 1000 printed on either side of the center artwork - the center artwork is a picture of a building that looks a little like the White House with the sun over it and lots of rays streaming from the sun. There is a lawn just under the building and then there is a leafy half-wreath with a scroll with two words in Russian, one on top of the other. the top word looks like it's spelled: ROCYAAPCTBHHAR (The R at the end is backwards). The word underneath this is spelled: AYMA. Above and below the 1000s is printed with another Russian word that looks like it's spelled: PYbJIEN - the JI looks like it's actually one letter and it looks like a fancy A. The second letter looks like a lowercase b mixed together with an upper case E. There's lots of multi-colored scroll-work and a border in blue that looks like Victorian wood work like the kind you'd see framing a door, or crown molding. It looks like a sylized, four-petaled floral pattern throughout the border, and the corners of this border have individual squares with a four-petaled stylized floral pattern. I'm very interested to find out the history of this bill (for instance, why the swastika on Russian money???) and to find out what it might be worth. (Yes, I'm willing to sell it.) I'm not a professional photographer, so some of the pictures have shadows.
Re: 1917 Russian (paper) currency 8 3/8" x 5 1/8" 1000 ...
If you're into old currency for the history they hold or the beautiful designs and artistry, you can't beat it for the money. Sadly, if you're in it for the money, not so good for the owner. This note is worth around $5-$10.
I don't know the full story behind it, but I know that it is indeed Russian, 1000 Ruble, VF (Very fine) and some were issued by the Soviet Government, while others were issued by the provisional government of former soviet states breaking apart due to German occupation. Honestly, I don't know enough about world war 1 to tell if Germany used the Swastika that far back or not, but I know the symbol had been in use for millenia before the 3rd Reich transformed and cemented its new meaning.
Re: 1917 Russian (paper) currency 8 3/8" x 5 1/8" 1000 pybnei...
1917 Russian banknote 1000 pybnei
Value: 5$-18$