The value of a ruble in the early 1900's

[Zvi Griliches]

At that point, Russia was on the gold standard. Comparing the weights of
$10 and 10 ruble pieces, it is clear that $1=2 rubles. Now the question
becomes what was a dollar really worth at that time, and what a ruble
would buy in Russia, which is not the same question as what was it's
exchange rate.

I am interested in this question since I am puzzled by my grandfather's
payment of 500 rubles/year, a rather large sum, for the privilege of
being listed as merchant of 1st class in StPetersburg, though he was
living in Dvinsk. It seems like a lot of money to pay for what?

Zvi Griliches gri...@kuznets.harvard.edu
Dept of Economics
Harvard University 617-495-2181
Cambridge, MA 02138 495-7730f