Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-10-02
MONEY IN SIBERIA
Resembles Anything from n Postage
stamp to n Cigarette Coupon

stamp 10 n Cigarette Coupon
with the Russian rub,e away below par
the American doughboy In Siberia fnds
himself possessed, on pay day, OF a
mighty impressive looking pile of high
denomination bills of surprisingly low
purchasing power. IF he has been over
there long he is likely to find that
his savings shrunk in a most astonishing
fashion.
Here's n forty rublc note" said Chris-
topher Seattle OF Worcester. Mass, n Y.
NJ. C. A.. secretary just returned from
NladivostOk. that was worth ohout geo
when first went OF Russia. Now Il
IL good for about n dollar and q half"
'"rhe problem Of exchange. however,
is overshadowed by the problem of small
change. 1t is almost impossible TO oh.
tain enough Of the shin-piasters and post
age stamp bills to carry on business. AZ
n result many of the large stores. the
Restaurants and other business places
have hit upon the cxpedicnt of issuing
trade checks good for anything further
purchases in the establishment"
| One restaurant that caters to the Amer
lean trade has its checks printed on ono
side in Russian and the other in English.
The English side reads: american grill.
two rubies. Not good for ever.
! Brokers make u business OF collecting
the five and ten rubles bills and reseling
! them at premium of about 10 per cent TO
business men. In conducting its own bus!-
ness OF free exchange for soldiers and
sailors. the Y. M G. a. has found il nec-
essary to resort to these brokers. For
circulation within their international hut
! at Vladivostok they have adopted the
plan used by the business places and are
I tyctt fhoip n,I,.
printed on fairly good paper in plain
English 1t passes current Mt the Associa-
lion canteen and finds it's way back TO the
I exchange desk.
| The financial situation is further com.
Iriicated by the fact that in Siberia there
are at present in circulation not one bu,
several issues OF rubles. which not only
fluctuate in value in terms of dollars. but
also vary among themselves
For example, man in possession OF
ten thousand rubies in yellow money
might find that il he wanted to sell the IN
for green money that he could get but
nine thousand rubles for them. The yell
low money is Siberian treasury notes re-
ferred to in Vladivostok as Omsk money.
The green bills are known as "1irenen-
skies" and command q premium over the
yellow Omsk bills
| .>tI'ueT oI tueS", nOWeNef, are as nlCnIN
valued as the Imperial currency, which,
issued under tho regime of the Car still
circulates and is highly priced. bringing
premiums up TO fifty per cent, and even
higher.
Hoardng and deterioration by time ana
use has reduced the available supply of
these notes to Il small fraction of the
amount needed for the conduct OF the
icountry's business
Soiled and ragged bills of ton. five.
three and one ruhle denomination pass
among the tradespeople at their face
value but are NJ a premium of at least
ten per cent in any amounts in excess of
the immediate need of making change
for a purchase. The few larger bills are
Eagerly sought by the money changers at
n much higher premium
To add to the difficulties of the situa-
ton the country il flooded hJ' counterfeit
bills of all issues, which are difficult TO
distinguish from the genuine. Russian
specie has been out of general crcua-
ton since early in the war, so that a
piece Of metallic money is now regarded
as something of a curiosity. The billie
are of all shapes and sizes. Those re.
presenting ten and twenty kopeck pieces
are almost exactly the size of an Amer.
lean postage stamp. Moreover. they come
in perforated sheets like stamps and one
instinctively turns them over to determine
whether or not there Is mucilagc on the
other side.