The term banknote has several meanings. This is a type of securities, the first paper money in Russia, as well as the money of the Great French Revolution.
Bank notes as monetary units
In the first meaning, the banknote is considered as paper money, which were issued in Russia in 1769-1849, they circulated along with gold, silver and other valuable metals. All coins could be exchanged for banknotes on demand and in any volume. The banknote was tied to a copper coin.
Their appearance was due to the economic feasibility of removing coins from metal from circulation. Assignment rubles appeared due to the high government spending on military needs. This in turn led to a shortage of silver in the treasury. And the huge mass of copper money in circulation (having a lower face value) made large payments extremely inconvenient.
The banknotes were issued in denominations of 25, 50, 75, 100 rubles. The money issue limit was 1 million rubles. The banknotes were poorly secured and easy to counterfeit. This, in particular, was used by Napoleon, who actively issued counterfeit money to undermine the Russian economy.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the exchange rate of banknotes fell significantly due to high military costs, and by 1815 it was only 20 kopecks. per ruble. As a result of the monetary reform of 1849, the banknotes were canceled.
Also, assignments are called paper money that operated during the period of the Great French Revolution.
Assignments as securities
Assignment is a contract (or assignment) according to which one party (assignee) transfers certain values (money or other values) to the other (assignee) through a third party (assignate). The issuance of such a paper entails only the proposal to take upon himself the commission to collect and does not yet oblige the assignee to anything. But as soon as the latter accepts this offer, he must induce the assignee to comply. Most often, banknotes were used in foreign trade as a means of payment.
Such a mandate existed in trading activities in the 19th century. In Germany, a banknote was a written act in which the amount to be paid and the time of payment, the names of the three parties, the place and date of issue were recorded. In countries such as France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, England and the United States, bank notes were equated in their legal force with a bill.
In Russian legislation, the term banknote is absent. The order of one person to make another person a payment in favor of a third party is carried out by the transfer of a debt obligation. The bill merges in law with the concept of a draft (bill of exchange).
