What was the value of 1000 rubles (roubles) in 1912?

Question

Almost 100 years ago my grandfather spirited 1000 rubles out of Russia in the form of 2  500 ruble notes.  I am not asking what they are worth today to collectors. (They are in very warn condition.) I am wondering how many days, weeks, months, or years it took to save up such a princely sum. My guess is that for peasants like my Russian ancestors, this amounted to a year's worth of savings, and maybe more. Any insight you can offer would be appreciated.

Polybius · Accepted Answer

The 1912 value at international exchange rates would be approximately 500 1912 US Dollars or 100 1912 Pounds Sterling.
http://www.cyberussr.com/hcunn/gold-std.html
and scroll down to Section 5D

For a peasant family this would probably be about twenty years of savings or the proceeds of the sale of their land.  Average Russian per capita income in 1914 was 60 roubles, according to a 2002 lecture (first item on this page):
http://uk.ask.com/web?qsrc=1&o=0&l=dir&q=Russia+individual+income+1914&dm=all

This probably understates real incomes, but it is indicative.  If we assume it represents disposable income rather than total, then saving 1,000 roubles at 60 roubles per year would take at least 17 years, so it would represent life savings or the proceeds from the sale of one's land (the latter is more likely as life savings would be more likely to be large numbers of small denomination notes).

I hope that helps.

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What was the value of 1000 rubles (roubles) in 1912?

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