the debates about adopting a national currency symbol for the russian ruble began nearly from the start of russia's transition to a market economy and its economic integration into the global market in the 1990s, soon after the dissolution of the soviet union. the idea was to reach the same level of recognition and therefore of influence as well-known currency signs such as $ (the us dollar), ¥ (the chinese yuan or the japanese yen) and £ (the uk pound). there were several contests to choose the ruble sign, hosted by different organizations. however, the central bank of russia did not adopt one of the winning symbols from these early contests.