UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2016. SKB-Bank presented its special souvenir 100-ruble bill dedicated to the Republic of Crimea becoming part of the Russian Federation.

Head of the bank’s Operational Department Larisa Larionova said this is the second souvenir banknote in Russian history so far. Prior to this, a souvenir coin dedicated to the Sochi Olympics was made available in 2014.

The ‘Crimean’ bill has an unusual vertical layout; its two sides portray the city of Sebastopol and the Crimea as well as the memorial dedicated to the ships which were sunk in Sebastopol Bay, the Swallow’s Nest Castle, and a fragment of Aivazovsky’s Russian Fleet in Sebastopol Harbor,’ Larionova says.

The bill is made of cotton paper and bears a multi-colored watermark, some contoured micro-text, and a hidden ruble logo. There is also a special QR code that one can use to check the bill for authenticity at the Central Bank’s website.

Larionova says twenty million souvenir bills were issued on December 23, 2015; these should arrive in Yekaterinburg in March.