From a Smuggling Item to a Propaganda Tool: Historical Insights into the Circulation of Russian Imperial Currency in Mongolia, Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries

Introduction. The article examines the circulation of Imperial Russia’s currency in Mongolia’s domestic markets during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Goals. The study seeks to determine and analyze the role of Russian currency in Mongolia during the identified period. To facilitate this, the work shall investigate reasons behind the change in the Russian ruble’s status, determine the then functions performed by the latter abroad. Materials and methods. The study focuses on regulatory and legal documents aimed at administering state policy of the Russian Empire in the fields of money circulation and development of trade relations with Inner Asian countries, investigates related archival materials housed at the State Archive of Buryatia and that of Irkutsk Oblast. The key research methods employed include that of historical reconstruction, and chronological, statistical, systemic historical ones. These put together have made it possible to reconstruct how the status of Russian ruble in Mongolia’s financial market would change in the context of large-scale political and economic processes witnessed by nations of Inner Asia during the period in question. Results. The development of trade relations between Imperial Russia and Inner Asian nations entailed multiple changes in the status of Russian currency within Mongolia’s markets. Having been an illegal commodity in the early-to-mid nineteenth century, Russian ruble grew to become a recognized tool of mutual settlements at the turn of the twentieth century. The solid status that proceeded from S. Witte’s successful financial reform made it possible for the Russian currency to hold a firm place in the financial market of Mongolia, which it turn had most favorable impacts on Russia-Mongolia trade cooperation. 

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