Transnistrian ruble

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Transnistrian ruble coin depicting Pyotr Vershigora

The Transnistrian ruble is the official currency of Transnistria, an unrecognised break-away republic from Moldova, along the border with Ukraine in Eastern Europe. It is divided into 100 kopecks.

Since Transnistria is an internationally unrecognized country, its currency has no ISO 4217 code and it cannot be traded outside Transnistria.

History

First ruble, 1994

The first Transnistrian ruble was introduced in 1994 by the Transnistrian Republican Bank as the national currency of the unrecognised state of Transnistrian Moldavian Republic. The currency consisted of Soviet and Russian banknotes of dated 1961-1992 with a special adhesive stamp. These notes replaced unstamped Soviet and Russian banknotes at par.

Second ruble, 1994-2000

The first, provisional issues were replaced in August 1994 by a new ruble, equal to 1000 old rubles. This currency consisted solely of banknotes and suffered from high inflation, necessitating the issuance of notes overstamped with higher denominations. Although issued in 1994, some notes (50 to 5000 rubles) were issued dated 1993.

Third ruble, 2000-

In 2000, a new ruble was introduced at a rate of 1 new ruble = 1 000 000 old rubles. This new currency consists of both coins and banknotes. The current exchange rate is about 10 TR to the Euro.

Current issues

Coins are of 1 to 50 kopecks and are made from aluminium or copper-zinc and are similar to Soviet-era coinage.

Notes are issued by the Transnistrian Republican Bank (Приднестровский Республиканский Банк) in denominations of one to 500 rubles. Low value notes feature the 18th century Russian General Alexander Suvorov, with higher values featuring Ukrainian Poet Taras Shevchenko, Moldavian Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, Russian General Peter Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky and Russian Tsarina Catherine II. The reverse sides show important buildings in Transnistria.

Value	Color	Obverse	Reverse
1 ruble	Orange	Alexander Suvorov	Chiţcani monument
5 rubles	Blue	Alexander Suvorov	Kvint brandy factory
10 rubles	Brown	Alexander Suvorov	Monastery
25 rubles	Red	Alexander Suvorov	Tighina Castle
50 rubles	Green	Taras Shevchenko	Presidential Palace
100 rubles	Purple	Dimitrie Cantemir	The Cathedral of Christmas, Tiraspol
200 rubles	Dark brown	Peter Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky	Military theme
500 rubles	Dull green	Catherine II	The decree of the creation of Tiraspol by Catherine II, and the plan of a fortress

External links

• [Pridnestrovie's own currency]