Soviet Union

The Soviet coins (ruble and kopeks) circulated from 1917 to 1991 and it was the only currency in 15 countries: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. After the break up of the USSR, the Soviet ruble was used in the post-Soviet states (ruble zone) until 1993 in these countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, Armenia, and Georgia.

USSR Commemorative coins were released in the USSR between 1965 and 1991. Almost every coin was minted using the proof coinage technology.

The famous symbols on the communist coins are the hammer and sickle. The coins were minted in Moscow and Leningrad. In 1961 one ruble (1 SUR) was worth 0.987412 grams of gold, but this exchange for gold was never available to the general public.

In the '80s the average worker wage was less than 100 rubles per month. The lower class got 60 rubles per month. A cleaner received 70 rubles, locksmith 80 rubles, and a good bricklayer could earn 150 rubles working without holidays.  

There was nowhere to spend the money at local stores. Without capitalism stores were empty, choice of goods was poor. Private businesses did not exist, and speculation was punished by imprisonment. Sometimes deficit goods were available in local stores, like clothes made in other communist countries like Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, or East Germany. 

The car "Zhiguli" cost approx. 5000 rubles and had to wait in line for decades. People paid 3000 - 7500 Rubles for any used car to get it faster. Lucky persons could sell a new car 3 times more, for example for 15000 rubles. If you wish to get Wrangler jeans in 1986 they cost 180 - 200 rubles. Japanese radios cost 2000 - 4000 rubles. It's was extremely expensive to get imported goods with low wages. 

Soviet citizens could not legally own foreign currency. If they legally received payment in foreign currency, they were forced to convert it to Vneshposyltorg cheques. For example, sailors sold them for 10 - 25 rubles on the street. These cheques could be spent at a Beryozka shop where was imported goods like radios, jeans, shoes, and other good quality products including imported beverages and food.  

In 1988 ruble lost purchasing power until the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Pavlov reform, was the last monetary reform that removed 50 and 100 ruble banknotes from circulation and people could exchange these bills for a new currency for 3 days. Many did not make it due to restrictions, so they used them as wallpaper for the walls of the outdoor toilet.