"Ruble"

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The ruble is the name of the modern currencies of Russia (Russian ruble), Belarus (Belarusian ruble), as well as the unrecognized state of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistrian ruble). In the past, the ruble was the currency of the Russian republics and principalities of the period of fragmentation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Russian Kingdom, the Russian Empire (1847-1922), numerous formations of the Civil War in Russia, the RSFSR (1917-1923), the Soviet Union (1923-1991), Latvia (1992-1993), Ukraine (1991-1992), Tajikistan (1995-2000) and many other states.

The first written use of the word “ruble” as the name of the monetary unit dates back to the end of the XIII century.

As a rule, the ruble is divided into 100 cents.

The code of the Russian ruble in accordance with ISO 4217 - RUB (RUR before the denomination of 1998), the numerical code - 643 (the old 810 is still used in the banking system); Belarusian - BYN, numerical code - 933 (since July 1, 2016); Pridnestrovian - PRB (unofficial, numerical code no).

Etymology

There are many versions of the origin of the word “ruble”. The main ones differ in details, but they agree that the verb “to cut” is one root.

According to Max Fasmer’s Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language, initially the ruble is a “stump, plug”, then, from 1316 in written sources, it is “the name of the monetary unit ... instead of the hryvnia ... which in Novgorod weighed in an ingot ... From chopping, that is, “stump of the hryvnia”.

According to the “Historical and Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language” by Pavel Chernykh, the older meaning of the word “ruble” is “gag, cut”. In etymological terms, it is undoubtedly connected with the verb to cut ... and is a derivative of this verb.

For the difference in details about metrology, in particular whether the ruble was equal to a whole hryvnia, as Chernykh claims, or only half as mentioned in Fasmer’s etymological dictionary, see the Metrology section.

Versions of origin of the term
According to one version, the ruble is not a whole hryvnia and not half of it, but a quarter. This point of view was held, for example, by Ivan Kondratiev, who in his book “Gray old Moscow” wrote: “Rubles were parts of the hryvnia or pieces of silver with notches, signifying their weight.” Each hryvnia was divided into four parts; the name of the ruble came from the word “cut”, because a rod of silver in the hryvnia weighing was cut into four parts, which were called rubles. From here we can see the connection with (ruble) - "quarter, fourth part".

According to another version, the name “ruble” is the result of the use of technology, in which silver was poured into the form in two receptions, which is why the edge of the Novgorod hryvnia is clearly noticeable seam, scar. Hence, the ruble is “ingot with a seam”.

Other ruble names
In the languages of the peoples of the Russian Empire, the USSR and the modern Russian Federation, the ruble bore or bears the names:
"Karbovanets" (Ukrainian language) - "coin with notches on the edges" (from carbovanets - "to cut");
"Manat" (Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Georgian)