Brief History of Russian Money
Russian Ruble is the official currency of Russian Federation. It is also used as a medium of exchange in many former soviet republics. Russian ruble is one of the world's oldest currencies. It appeared in 15th century during the so-called Silver Bum. At the time, Russian coins were made of silver. Soaring demand for silver across continental Europe resulted in growth of value of Russian silver coin to a point when they were no longer useful for purchases. People started splitting coins in halves. Russian word for "split" or "cut" is rubit'' and the half coins were called rubles. Even though Russian coins no longer come in halves, the name stuck on.