Money Issuing of Odesa City in 1917-1919
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to highlight the emission of currency units issued in Odesa city in 1917-1919 during its stay under the rule of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the Volunteer Army of General A. Denikin, and the Soviet government.
Scientific novelty. The reasons for the issuing of various types of currency units in the city of Odesa are found out, namely: financial crisis, inflationary processes, devaluation, and shortage of paper money, which began to develop rapidly in the city after the February Coup of 1917; the accent is given to the main stages and results of the emission policy of various governments and political forces ruling in Odesa until 1920.
Conclusions. It has been found out that the beginning of the emission of local city money issuing began on December 23, 1917, by the ‘Regulation on Exchange Bonds of the City of Odesa’ (‘Polozheniie o Razmennykh Biletakh Goroda Odessy’). The next period of the history of money issuing in Odesa was associated with the entry of the Volunteer Army of General A. Denikin into the city and the issuing of Ukrainian treasury notes, the so-called Denikin ‘lopatka’. It is ascertained that during its first stay in Odesa in 1918 – early 1919, the Volunteer Army issued ten series of treasury notes with a nominal value of 50 karbovantsiv. During the first stay of Soviet power in Odesa (April – June 1919), it also issued and put into circulation ten series of Ukrainian treasury notes with a nominal value of 50 karbovantsiv.
The volumes of the emission policy of the local, Denikin, and Soviet authorities in Odesa until the beginning of 1920 are quantified. So, the volume of the local emission of ‘Odesa Exchange Bonds’ (‘Razmennyi Bilet g Odessy’) is estimated by researchers to be over 230 million rubles, Denikin – over 280 million karbovantsiv, Soviet – about 480 million karbovantsiv. In total it was about 1 billion monetary units. The growth of money emission in the city of Odesa led to hyperinflationary processes and the devaluation of money.
It is proved that Odesa bonds and Ukrainian treasury notes issued in 1917-1919 continued to circulate until Denikin troops left the city in February 1920.
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