RUSSIA--NORTH RUSSIA. Lot of (9). Government of Olonets. 1, 5, 10, 25 & 100 Rubles, 1918. P-S191p1 to S195p2. Front & Back Proofs. PMG Choice Very Fine 35 to About Uncirculated 53 EPQ.This is an incredibly rare set of nine proofs (missing only the back proof for the 10 Rubles for a complete collection) of this unissued series of notes printed for the Olonets Government and to be issued by the Council of Peoples Commissars. Located in far northeastern Russia, close to the Finnish border, the region is known as Karelia. Olonets is the administrative center of the region and would serve as the capital of this short-lived and unrecognized state that was created on May 25, 1918, just six months after Finland had declared itself independent from Russia and before the final borders had been determined (and before the political status of Finland could be sorted out). <p>The region of Karelia was culturally linked with the people now in nearby Finland. As a result of this, the region would be occupied by Finnish forces for a brief period in 1919 during the Aunus expedition (Aunus being the Finnish name for Olonets), before control of the region returned to the Olonets Government. In 1920 it became part of the Karelian United Government which was dissolved in 1923 when Karelia became part of the Soviet Union.<p>This series of notes was printed by the printing house of the Murmansk Railway. The notes were to be issued to remedy an acute shortage of circulating currency at the local branch of the Petrozavodsk branch of the State Bank (Petrozavodsk was the largest city of the region and economically more important than Olonets) and to be accepted on par with issues of the State Bank. Kardakoff, in 1953, lists all denominations except the 100 Rubles as unique. While we do believe that a set is in the Karelian State Museum of Local History we are not aware of any to have appeared in the public market in recent history. These uniface proofs are fully printed (although they dont contain serial numbers) and the front of each of the notes include the signatures of the manager and Commissioner of the Petrozavodsk Department of the state bank (A. Beting and K. Almazov) and the chairman of the Olonets Provincial Council of Peasant Workers and Soldiers (Val. Parfenov). <p>An article written in 1929 by P. Butkevich states that knowledge of these proofs first came through a price list published in 1925, which lists the 100 Rubles, but that since then very few additional pieces had turned up. One has to remember that now almost a century has passed since the publication of that article, and this series remains on the wish list of many collectors. A monumental offering and a true highlight from the extensive Al Kugel Collection. PMG Comments "Selvage Included" on all notes.<p>From the Al Kugel Collection.
