Museum complex

BANKNOTES OF THE RUSSIAN-AMERICAN COMPANY

Saint Petersburg
The First half of XIX Century
Parchment, handwriting
Showcase 9

Unique banknotes of the Russian-American company created in 1799 on the basis of association of several merchant companies which were involved in fur trade. The company was under the protection of the Emperor and had a monopoly on all trades on the North-West Bank of America from 55 degrees North latitude to the Bering Strait, as well as on the Islands. RAC received the right to rule those territories. It was difficult to deliver coins to these areas, so the company began to issue local banknotes – "colonial stamps", which were printed on processed parchment made from the skins of Northern animals. After the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1868, the RAC was eliminated, but almost all of its banknotes in circulation were exchanged into Russian official currency.

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