It is the best-known line in the Communist Manifesto, the 1848 political pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, at once a distillation of Marxist philosophy and a cri de coeur for exploited
proletariats everywhere: ”Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!“
In 1919, after the Bolshevik victory in the Revolution, the fledgling Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic issued a series of so-called ”Babylonian“ currency notes with this popular inscription,
written in seven languages: Russian, German, French, Italian, Greek, English, Arabic, and Chinese.
In 1937, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, the Soviet Union issued a new series of chervonsky featuring the portrait of Vladimir Lenin. Note the hammer-and-sickle arms
at the upper left center.
This set contains a well-circulated Soviet ”Babylonian“ note, as well as a 3 chervonets banknote
featuring the portrait of Lenin.