Abstract:
Using broadly archival and published documents, the author analyzes the circulation of money in Bessarabia in the first decades after its annexation to the Russian Empire.
The author finds that certain periods of time, in Bessarabia were circulating several kinds of currencies, especially Turkish, Austrian and Dutch. But mostly have spread, due to the dependence of Romanian Principalities to the Ottoman Empire, Turkish gold and silver coins with different value, called mahmud, half mahmud, a quarter of mahmud, rubia, rubeichik, beshlik, stambolik, hazelnut, etc. Tsarism intervened in money circulation in Bessarabia, seeking to reduce the exchange rate of these currencies, in favor of Russian rubles. With the introduction in 1828 of the Russian currency as a mean of money circulation throughout Bessarabia, Turkish coins were gradually removed from circulation in the domestic market of Bessarabia. Nevertheless, some Turkish coins circulated in Bessarabia until the 50s of the 19th century.
