Creating ruble banknotes with the image of the military has difficulties: preference is given to paratroopers and infantrymen

The appearance of the Red Army soldier depicted on the bill was carefully checked by specialists from the People’s Commissariat of Defense

The state monetary system and the army are inseparable. At least once in the history of our country, such an approach received clear material confirmation. It was decided to decorate the new three-ruble banknote, which was to be put into circulation in 1938, with the image of a Soviet soldier. But preparing a sketch of such a banknote turned out to be fraught with some difficulties and even dangers.

Then, more than 85 years ago, the development of the appearance of new Soviet paper money was entrusted to the chief artist of Goznak, Ivan Dubasov.

The son of the remarkable master, Alexander Ivanovich Dubasov, once told an MK correspondent about the pitfalls that awaited him when carrying out such a task, in particular, when creating that very “militarized” three-ruble coin.

— It was not easy for my father to obtain a series of treasury notes from the 1938 model. True, everything turned out well with the ruble. As was stipulated by the decision taken “at the top,” Ivan Ivanovich depicted on this bill “a leading representative of the working class.” A Stakhanovite miner was chosen as such a “representative”, since this profession was then among the most honorable. To make the picture as believable as possible, Dubasov was not too lazy to go to an industrial exhibition and meticulously copied into his work album the new samples of jackhammers, miners’ helmets, and safety glasses that were on display there…

But there were problems with the green-lime three-ruble note.

The banknote was ordered to be decorated with the image of a Red Army soldier. In this infantryman, some of those who personally knew his father even saw a portrait resemblance to the author himself. Perhaps dad really decided to take such an unusual self-portrait. However, accurate identification is very difficult: the design on the bill is too small.

However, even in such a miniature image, when the time came to submit it for approval, the strict acceptance committee managed to find a flaw.

Taking a closer look at the sketch, one of the “inspectors” suddenly announced that the infantryman was wearing the wrong uniform: they say, his belt was worn over the straps of his bag with a gas mask, but it should be the other way around! It’s 1937, and arrests of “enemies of the people” are in full swing across the country. So such a “puncture” could well have resulted in the artist Dubasov being charged under the notorious Article 58 and sent to a camp for 10 years. This is obvious anti-Soviet propaganda to use Soviet money to replicate a Red Army slob dressed out of uniform!

Ivan Ivanovich was saved this time by his foresight: having prepared sketches of the future banknote, Dubasov took them to the People’s Commissariat of Defense and received a certificate from experts in the field of military equipment, which stated that the appearance of the infantryman on the three-ruble note complied with all the norms of the military regulations.

The father now presented this document, certified by signatures and seal, to his opponent. As a result, the remark about the incorrectly depicted belt was removed, and the “green one” was approved for reproduction.

An even more tragicomic situation arose with the samples for the five-ruble treasury note. Initially, an instruction was received from Narkomfin: to depict a young worker on this bill. No sooner said than done. Ivan Ivanovich drew a girl in a chintz scarf on the five. The commission looked and… did not approve: “You have turned out to be some kind of housekeeper!” Let’s better put a mother and children here instead.”

Dubasov removed the “housekeeper” from the sketch and depicted a woman with two children on the banknote. However, when discussing this option, there was again a critic among the commission members: “This clearly looks like a single mother going to demand alimony!..”

The bosses thought and thought and came up with a new solution: so that in the plots for banknotes “statehood can be traced” (!!!), to depict a parachutist on the five-ruble note.

And again Ivan Ivanovich had to get to work. But the fate of the parachutist turned out to be just as sad as that of her two predecessors. While discussing the new character who adorned the five-ruble note, members of the state commission suddenly realized that there weren’t that many female paratroopers in the USSR yet, and therefore it was better not to draw too much attention to this topic…

A satisfactory result was achieved only on the fourth pass. This time, following instructions from “above,” the artist no longer drew “her,” but “him”—the brave paratrooper—the future paratrooper. This option became the final one for the five-ruble banknote.