J OS E P H S TALI N
Ord e r Co d e : STALIN ALB
Born Ioseb Besarionis dze J ughashvili in what is today Georgia, J oseph Stalin (1878-1953) is arguably the most
prolific m ass murderer in history. He had a hand in the 190 7 Tiflis bank robbery, the Great Fam ine of 1932-3, the
deaths at the gulags, and the brutal Great Purge of 1937-8. As m any as 30 m illion people in the form er Soviet Union
died as a result of his brutality.
Th e Wh ite Ru s s ian Ban kn o te
The Russian Revolution, which began in 1917, pitted the Bolsheviks, or Reds, against forces loyal to the Tsar—the socalled White Army. After the 1918 execution of the royal fam ily, a corps of White Army soldiers, led by Baron
Wrangel, besieged the city of Tsaritsyn, whose m ilitary chairm an was J oseph Stalin. Under Stalin’s savvy leadership,
the Reds repelled Wrangel and his troops. The city of Tsaritsyn was subsequently nam ed Stalingrad. This 500 -ruble
banknote, featuring the double-eagle crest of the Rom anov fam ily, was issued in 1920 , when Wrangel was nam ed
Com m ander-in-Chief of the White Arm y—a post he held for less than a year. In November, 1920 , Wrangel fled Russia,
never to return; Stalin’s Reds had prevailed.
Th e “De ath Se n te n ce ” Silve r Co in
In 1930 , in the m idst of an econom ic crisis, Stalin decided that all hard-currency silver coins in circulation would be
replaced by base-m etal copper/ nickel coins. This m et with resistance, as people began to hoard the silver coins, and
the bankers responsible for their confiscation were not as successful as Stalin expected. To m otivate the collectors, he
went to his get-to strategy for problem solving: m ass murder.
“The results of the battle against the coin shortage are alm ost nonexistent,” Stalin wrote to his protégé, V.M. Molotov.
The agents “probably clam ped down on a few cashiers an d let it go at that... It is thus im portant to a) fundam entally
purge the Finance [Ministry] and Gosbank (Central Bank) bureaucracy. b) Definitely shoot two or three dozen from
these [bureaucracies], including several dozen com mon cashiers; c) continue [Secret Police] operations throughout
the USSR that are aim ed at seizing” the silver. This 20 kopek silver coin is one of the few, rare survivors of this period.
The Soviets never again issued a circulating silver coin.
D ata:
Ba n kn o te
S-4 3 4 , 5 0 0 r u b le s ; 15 3 x 75 m m ; is s u e d 19 2 0
Obverse: m on um en t to th e m illen n ium of Russia. Reverse: dou ble eagle, th e Rom an ov coat of arm s. Th is govern m en t treasur y n ote wa s
issued by Baron Wran gel.
Co in
KM-8 8 , 2 0 ko p e k s ; 3 . 6 g, 2 1. 8 m m ; is s u e d 19 2 1-3 0
Min ted in two types. Both featured th e h am m er an d sickle arm s. From 1921-23 th e coin s were in scribed with th e in itials for RFSFR
(Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Rep ublic). After th e en d of th e Ru ssian Civil War in 1923, th e n ation ’s n am e was ch an ged to USSR
(Un ion of Soviet Socialist Rep ublics). Coin s m in ted from 1924-1930 h ad th e n ew in itials.
Album open m ea sures: 11” x 7.5”
Album folded m ea sures: 5.5” x 7.5”