Russian Rouble

Rouble was first introduced by Tsar Peter I (the Great) in 1704 as part of his monetary reform, and was among the first monarchs in the world who introduced the decimal monetary system.
The newly introduced silver coins were sub-divided into 100, kopeks made of copper. Silver Roubles could be changed into three higher-denomination gold coins: gold 2-roubles (double rouble), ducats (chervonetz which was worth 2 and a half silver roubles) and double chervonetz (which was worth 5 silver roubles).
The name “Rouble” stems from the Russian word “rubityh” which means “to chop, to cut off”. The name refers to the fact that earlier pieces of gold and silver cut-off from precious metal were used as a method of payment.
Throughout the centuries coins were changed several times, and banknotes also appeared with time. The Rouble that is used today was introduced in 1998, and the currency was set to 1 new Rouble per 1,000 old old Rouble.
When the Rouble was introduced it was equivalent to approximately 0.2 American Dollars, however as a result of the Russian economic crisis in August 1998 it underwent severe depreciation (its value decreased by half in a single month).
Currently, seven different banknotes are in use (5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000).