Is it true that money began to be called grandmothers because of banknotes with Catherine II?

According to the common version, in Russian the money received their jargon name thanks to bills depicting the Russian empress. We decided to check if this is confirmed by historical sources.

The assertion of the relationship between the etymology of the word "grandmother" and a portrait of Catherine II with money can be found, for example, in social networks And on Blog-platforms, on the portal Pikabu, V Scientific and popular articles and on the site "History.rf". Most often, the authors write that the jargon word owes their origin to the image of the empress on a 100-ruble banknote.

In the literature, the earliest mention of the word "grandmother" in the meaning of "money", judging by National Corps of the Russian Languagedates back to 1844. In the story of Vladimir Dahl "Petersburg janitor"There is an excerpt describing the jargon of the capital's scammers: for example," getting a tag "meant to get a passport," take a bench " - steal a horse. It is also said about money when the gang of pickpockets asks the hero, how many he stole: “Gregory answered calmly:“ Grandmas, freckles and petal, ”that is, money, a watch and a scarf; And the scammers looked at Gregory in bewilderment, not knowing whether it was Mazurik, that is, a comrade, or a traitor. ”

Five years later, an essay on Ivan Kokorev was published "Small industry in Moscow", In which the author writes about the dark side of the city life:“ We would listen to the speeches of the local inhabitants who call each other physicists, mechanics, borders, and in a contemptuous sense - with seven -legged crooks; They would find out what Lafa, a striving mean, what a rooster is, what a thing of a grandmother and how a bumblebee bites. ” And in the notes, he explains: “Lafa” - to go, “stroke” - failure, “rooster” - a watchman, “grandmothers” - money, “bumblebee” - a wallet. ” So in the 1840s, the word "grandmother" already existed as a jargon designation of money and was widespread both in St. Petersburg and in Moscow.

Catherine II really put paper money in Russia. December 29, 1768 (January 9, 1769 according to the new style) Empress I signed the manifesto On the establishment of two assignment banks-in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which received the right to emissions of banknotes, which were walking along with coins.

In order to avoid the fakes, watermarks were applied: the emblems of the four kingdoms (Astrakhan, Kazan, Siberian and Moscow) and the inscriptions - as well as two oval seals in the middle of the leaf. Catherine II was not depicted on these banknotes. The design of the banknotes was later rather concise: for example, at the beginning of the 19th century, a double -headed eagle was depicted on them.

After Reforms, conducted by the Minister of Finance Yegor Kankrin, in 1840, credit tickets were replaced by bank notes. But they were not on them Catherine II.

The portrait of the empress appeared on banknotes only 100 years after her manifesto. In February 1868, the Senate issued a decree on the introduction of a new type of tickets to the circulation, and in March the exchange of old tickets for new rates of 25 rubles began. A year later, in March 1869, other denominations were received in circulation, from 1 to 100 rubles. On a 5-ruble ticket was depicted Dmitry Donskoy, on 10-ruble-king Mikhail Fedorovich, on 25-ruble- Alexey Mikhailovich, on 50-ruble- Peter I. Finally, a portrait of Catherine II was placed on a 100-ruble ticket.

Subsequently, behind a hundred -ruble banknotes Fastened The name "Katenka", the grandmothers called any money, regardless of the face value.

The most likely origin of the jargon word is from the popular Grandma games. Ethnographer and folklorist Ivan Sakharov in the book "The legends of the Russian people”(1836) writes:“ In Russian family life, this game occupies the most honorable place, and there is no place where it does not exist. ” The necessary element of the game is the grandmas themselves, that is, the above -trapping beef bones. They were exhibited in a certain way (depending on the type of game), the beater was supposed to knock out the maximum number of grandmas in a weighted bone. According to the researcher, the extraction, exchange and sale of grandmas for boys made up a “special type of industry” with their exchange rate. The largest bones (cakes), as well as grandmas flooded for the severity of lead (lead) were especially appreciated.

Most likely, the jargon designation of money arose precisely by analogy with the popular game - for many from childhood, grandmas were actually a monetary equivalent. The version of the portrait of Catherine II is much less believable: in the literature of the 19th century it is not found, and the banknote with the image of the Empress appeared only in the second half of the century, when the money was already called grandmothers.

It can be assumed that the name is associated with the minted with silver or gold coins, on which the empress’s profile was depicted. But this is also unlikely, since no traces of the spread of the jargon word in the 18th century were found. Coins were called by their face value (nickel, a dime, two -war, etc.), but not by the name of the ruler.

Photo on the cover: Bank of Russia

Not true

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