Originally, rubles were made from silver. They were chopped from a bar of silver and there is speculation that the name comes from the word “rubit” meaning “to chop.” According to RT.com, the ruble has been redenominated 7 times between the 1500s and 1998. Three of those times occurred between 1921 and 1924.
The ruble was divided into 100 kopecks in 1704, though some sources place the year at 1710, making it the first decimalized currency in the world. Lower denomination kopecks were made of copper. Higher values up to one ruble were made of silver. Five ruble coins were made of gold. In 1897, the ruble became tied to a gold standard and was convertible to gold stabilizing the currency and keeping it stable until World War I.
Nikolai Nikolaevich is featured on the 5,000 ruble bank note. There was no official symbol for the ruble until Dec. 2013 and prices were denoted with a “p.”, which is the Cyrillic version of and Arabic “r”. The official symbol is now a “P” with a horizontal line through the bottom though the older denotations are commonly used in retail outlets.
For more from Far East Russia, check out the Adventures on the Amur: The Treasure of Nikolai Nikolaevich.
Sources: https://www.rt.com/business/217003-russian-ruble-tumultuous-history/
http://russiatrek.org/russian-currency-ruble
http://www.roubles.com/history-of-the-rouble/
http://www.pravdareport.com/history/17-01-2007/86498-russian_ruble-0/
https://www.oanda.com/currency/iso-currency-codes/RUB