The Karasuksky Regional Museum’s collection includes a ten-ruble paper ticket for a cash and prize lottery held on 27 November 1941 by the Council of People’s Commissars. By this time, the Great Patriotic War had already been raging for five months, and the lottery would have brought some additional money into the State finances.
Following a suggestion by the USSR’s People’s Commissariat of Finance, the total value of issued lottery tickets issued was increased to 1 billion rubles, which, taking into account two further release ticket runs, amounted to 1.4 billion rubles. 140 million tickets were issued, with each ticket costing ten rubles. This was the first of four wartime lotteries, which in total, brought 13 billion rubles into the state coffers. In the following years, three more cash-prize lotteries were held in the USSR. 20 ruble tickets were issued in 1942, 25-ruble tickets in 1943 and 25 and 50 rubles tickets in 1944. Party members, Komsomol members and trade union bodies distributed the tickets.
The ten-ruble paper tickets were very simple as there was no time to consider the tickets’ design during the war. The tickets for the later lotteries had a more intricate design. The inscriptions on the left of the ticket are green, and the USSR coat of arms is on the top right. Under it, the name of the lottery’s organizational body - the People’s Commissariat of Finance - is displayed. The serial number and the ticket number are displayed in the darker rectangles. The name of the ticket is translated into 14 languages - all the main republics that were then part of the USSR are taken into account. On the back of the ticket, the procedure for issuing tickets, the rules of the lottery, and the list of prizes are listed in detail. The cash prizes ranged between 100 and 50,000 rubles. The prizes ranged all the way from watches, cigarette cases and shoes to pieces of fabric.
During the Great Patriotic war, great importance was placed on a widespread patriotic movement to help the front through monetary contributions to the defense budget. During the war years, the defense budget received 17 billion rubles and 15 million in foreign currency. Over four years, the population’s voluntary contributions to the war accounted for 18% of all direct military expenditure. The overall sum of voluntary contributions over four years is estimated to be one fifth of the total direct military expenditure. Government loans were one of the sources of income. Four military loans were issued, at a total value of 89.7 billion rubles. Wartime loans were issued in the form of bonds of different values, with the average value being 100 rubles.
Following a suggestion by the USSR’s People’s Commissariat of Finance, the total value of issued lottery tickets issued was increased to 1 billion rubles, which, taking into account two further release ticket runs, amounted to 1.4 billion rubles. 140 million tickets were issued, with each ticket costing ten rubles. This was the first of four wartime lotteries, which in total, brought 13 billion rubles into the state coffers. In the following years, three more cash-prize lotteries were held in the USSR. 20 ruble tickets were issued in 1942, 25-ruble tickets in 1943 and 25 and 50 rubles tickets in 1944. Party members, Komsomol members and trade union bodies distributed the tickets.
The ten-ruble paper tickets were very simple as there was no time to consider the tickets’ design during the war. The tickets for the later lotteries had a more intricate design. The inscriptions on the left of the ticket are green, and the USSR coat of arms is on the top right. Under it, the name of the lottery’s organizational body - the People’s Commissariat of Finance - is displayed. The serial number and the ticket number are displayed in the darker rectangles. The name of the ticket is translated into 14 languages - all the main republics that were then part of the USSR are taken into account. On the back of the ticket, the procedure for issuing tickets, the rules of the lottery, and the list of prizes are listed in detail. The cash prizes ranged between 100 and 50,000 rubles. The prizes ranged all the way from watches, cigarette cases and shoes to pieces of fabric.
During the Great Patriotic war, great importance was placed on a widespread patriotic movement to help the front through monetary contributions to the defense budget. During the war years, the defense budget received 17 billion rubles and 15 million in foreign currency. Over four years, the population’s voluntary contributions to the war accounted for 18% of all direct military expenditure. The overall sum of voluntary contributions over four years is estimated to be one fifth of the total direct military expenditure. Government loans were one of the sources of income. Four military loans were issued, at a total value of 89.7 billion rubles. Wartime loans were issued in the form of bonds of different values, with the average value being 100 rubles.
