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Alaskan parchment scrip
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<h2 id="russian-american-company-currency">Russian-American Company currency</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Russian-American_Company/Qj6Tw6Nm">Russian-American Company</a></p> <p>The Russian-American Company (RAC) (full name: the Russian-American Company under the Protection of His Imperial Majesty) was chartered by Russian emperor <a href="/facts/Paul_I_of_Russia/mXjl4Grp">Paul I</a> on 8 July 1799.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> This 20-year <a href="/facts/Charter/MjzrwVDd">charter</a> granted the RAC an exclusive monopoly for any and all produce from (primarily the <a href="/facts/Fur_trade/VlU2wVoG">fur trade</a>)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> as well as the general administration of colonial Russian America.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Each of the five main districts, namely New Archangel, Kodiak, Unalaska, Ross, and Northern Islands,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> housed a RAC store which only accepted <a href="/facts/Company_scrip/nVbCQnCw">company scrip</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> and charged a 35% <a href="/facts/Markup_(business)/pvr8zdNG">markup</a> on basic commodities.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>RAC employees and local native hunters were paid in company script<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> redeemable only at company stores.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> Though first made of thick card stock, this scrip was later made from parchment,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> and walrus hide.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> </p> <h3>Scrip Issues</h3> Issuance records for RAC scrip<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a><table><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Issue</th><th scope="col">Amount</th><th scope="col">Material</th><th scope="col">Denom</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">1816</th><td>12,000</td><td>Card stock</td><td>25 & 50K1, 5, 10R</td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1822</th><td>30,000</td><td>Card stock</td><td></td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1826</th><td>30,000</td><td>Parchment</td><td>10, 25, 50K1, 5, 10R</td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1834</th><td></td><td>Parchment</td><td></td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1842</th><td>41,662</td><td>Parchment</td><td></td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1846</th><td>20,300</td><td>Parchment</td><td></td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1848</th><td></td><td>Parchment</td><td></td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1852</th><td></td><td>Parchment</td><td></td></tr><tr><th scope="row">1858</th><td>80,000</td><td>Parchment</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In 1803, <a href="/facts/Alexander_Andreyevich_Baranov/Yq7dUu2q">Alexander Andreyevich Baranov</a>, one of the directors of the RAC, proposed the creation of a colonial currency for use in Russian America, to be printed on parchment for greater durability.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> The first issue of currency (12,000 <a href="/facts/Russian_ruble/mzupvnyt">rubles</a>) did not arrive until 1816,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> and it was printed on a heavy card stock.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> A second issue arrived in 1822,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> printed on the same material.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> Given the climate of Alaska and constantly being outdoors, the currency did not survive long in circulation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a> Only four examples from the first two issues are known to exist: a 25 kopeck, 50 kopeck, and one ruble note from 1816 and a single one ruble note from 1822.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> </p><p>Constantly needing to replace damaged and worn notes, a third issue (on parchment) arrived in 1826,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a> with higher denomination notes on color-tinted parchment (e.g., blue 5 ruble notes and red 10 ruble notes).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a> Later issues (e.g., 1842, 1846, 1848) varied the ink overprint color for each denomination: 10 kopeck (brown), 25 kopeck (black), 50 kopeck (lilac), 1 ruble (green), 5 ruble (blue ink on blue-tinted parchment), 10 ruble (red ink on red-tinted parchment).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27"><sup>27</sup></a> The issue of 1852 changed the color scheme of the ruble notes: black ink on light yellow (1 ruble), black ink on blue (5 ruble), and black ink on red (10 ruble).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28"><sup>28</sup></a> </p><p>Lower denomination notes – 10, 25, and 50 kopeck notes – were the same size (except for the one-issue round 10 kopeck note). In an attempt to help the largely illiterate native population of Russian America, these lower denomination notes were systematically altered: the 10 kopeck had two holes made, one in each of the upper corners,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:29" href="#fn:29"><sup>29</sup></a> the 25 kopeck had all four corners clipped,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:30" href="#fn:30"><sup>30</sup></a> and the 50 kopeck had the upper two corners clipped.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:31" href="#fn:31"><sup>31</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:32" href="#fn:32"><sup>32</sup></a> </p> <h3>Census</h3> <p>Ted Uhl, a collector and researcher of Alaskan parchment scrip, reported that 53 notes were known in 1982.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:33" href="#fn:33"><sup>33</sup></a> Zander's 1996 monograph published by The Russian Numismatic Society lists every reported note by denomination and serial number: 10 kopecks (22), 25 kopecks (18), 50 kopecks (10), one ruble (18), five rubles (3), 10 rubles (5), and 25 rubles (1) for a census total of 77.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:34" href="#fn:34"><sup>34</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:35" href="#fn:35"><sup>35</sup></a> It is uncertain whether an accurate census is currently maintained, but some estimates suggest between 100 and 150 notes are known.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:36" href="#fn:36"><sup>36</sup></a> </p> <h3>Footnotes</h3> <h3>Notes</h3> <h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2> <ul><li>Andrews, C.L. (1916). "Alaska under the Russians – Industry, Trade and Social Life". <i>The Washington Historical Quarterly</i>. 7 (4). University of Washington: 278–295. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40474449">40474449</a>.</li> <li>Bickford, Ethan (24 July 2012). <a href="http://www.pmgnotes.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?IDArticle=2851">"Animal Skin Tokens – The Russian-American Company"</a>. Paper Money Guaranty. Retrieved 16 May 2014.</li> <li>Gibson, James R. (1976). "Russian America in 1821". <i>Oregon Historical Quarterly</i>. 77 (2). Oregon Historical Society: 174–188. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20613514">20613514</a>.</li> <li>Lightfoot, Kent G. (2003). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF03376620">"The Implications of Mercantile Colonial Practices in the North Pacific"</a>. <i>Historical Archaeology</i>. 37 (4). Society for Historical Archaeology: 14–28. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF03376620">10.1007/BF03376620</a>. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25617092">25617092</a>. <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:161006359">161006359</a>.</li> <li>Uhl, Ted (1982). "Walrus Skin Money". <i>Paper Money</i>. 21 (1). The Society of Paper Money Collectors: 20–23.</li> <li>Veltre, Douglas W.; McCartney, Allen P. (2002). "Russian Exploitation of Aleuts and Fur Seals: The Archaeology of Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century Settlements in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska". <i>Historical Archaeology</i>. 36 (3). Society for Historical Archaeology: 8–17. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF03374356">10.1007/BF03374356</a>. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25617008">25617008</a>. <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:163434459">163434459</a>.</li> <li>Wheeler, Mary E. (1966). "The Origins of the Russian-American Company". <i>Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas</i>. 14 (4). Franz Steiner Verlag: 485–494. <a href="/facts/JSTOR_(identifier)/YTeVmaJ7">JSTOR</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41042948">41042948</a>.</li> <li>Zander, Randolph (1996). <i>The Alaskan Parchment Script of the Russian American Company, 1816–1867</i>. Bellingham, WA: The Russian Numismatic Society. <a href="/facts/OCLC_(identifier)/Yqad8waq">OCLC</a> <a href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/42245543">42245543</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zGc-AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA139">"White deer skins"</a>. <i>The Numismatist</i>. 24 (4). American Numismatic Association: 139. 1911.</li> <li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=3i89-bQGznEC"><i>HCAA Currency Auction Catalog (Boston)</i></a>. Heritage Auctions, Inc. 2010. p. 115. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1599674797.</li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.fortross.org/lib/65/walrus-skin-money-of-the-russian-american-company-and-coins-of-the-american-west.pdf"><i>The Henry H. Clifford Collection – Coins of the American West</i></a> (PDF). Bowers and Ruddy Galleries, Inc.</li> <li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=nYXdIZUSIRAC"><i>HCAA Currency Auction Catalog (Memphis)</i></a>. Heritage Auctions, Inc. 2010. p. 51. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1599674674. Retrieved 30 January 2014.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Wheeler, 1966, p. 492. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Bickford, 2012. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Wheeler, 1966, p. 492. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Lightfoot, 2003, p. 16. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Lightfoot, 2003, p. 16. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Gibson, 1976, p. 177. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Andrews, 1916, p. 292. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 5. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Andrews, 1916, p. 292. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Andrews, 1916, p. 292. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Gibson, 1976, p. 180. <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Lightfoot, 2003, p. 21. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Andrews, 1916, p. 292. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>The Numismatist, 1911, p. 139. <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Uhl, p. 20. <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 13. <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>All information in the issuance table is found in Zander (1996).[12] Individual table references indicate additional reference sources for specific information. <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 7. <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 7. <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 13. <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Andrews, 1916, p. 292. <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 8. <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 13. <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Zander, 1996, pp. 7–8. <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 9. <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 11. <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:27"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 11. <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:28"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 12. <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:29"><p>Uhl, p. 20. <a href="#fnref:29" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:30"><p>Uhl, p. 20. <a href="#fnref:30" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:31"><p>Zander, 1996, p. 12. <a href="#fnref:31" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:32"><p>Uhl, p. 21. <a href="#fnref:32" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:33"><p>Uhl, p. 21. <a href="#fnref:33" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:34"><p>Zander, 1996, pp. 28–31 & 36. <a href="#fnref:34" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:35"><p>Zander further reports that of the 77 known examples, 35 reside in museum collections. <a href="#fnref:35" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:36"><p>HCAA Currency Auction Catalog (Boston), 2010, p. 115. <a href="#fnref:36" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>