Ural franc


The Ural franc was a scrip issued in Sverdlovsk in Russia in 1991 by a team of businessmen and politicians headed by Anton Bakov.
At the time, it was supposed to be used in projects related to creation of the Ural Republic while the former USSR structures were collapsing and undergoing large-scale transformations. It never became the legal tender as Ural Republic-related projects were not generally successful.
But the banknotes were later used as money substitute in 1997–2000 at the "city-forming" in the northern Sverdlovsk Oblast's Serov town where Bakov served as director.
The notes, all 145 × 80 mm, came in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 francs. They were made according to sketches by architect Sophia Demidova at the Goznak factory in Perm city. Nowadays they have numismatic value and are exhibited in museums.