The birth of the gold shervontz amidst chaos: As is our custom, we try to connect the present with the past and currencies with history. On the occasion of May Day, International Workers' Day, we will tell you a story linked to workers and peasants in one way or another: the story of the Soviet Union's gold shervontz. The shervontz first appeared as currency for Soviet Russia in 1922 amidst the economic chaos that gripped the country at the time.