In the original Russian text though, Bulgakov did not write about roubles, he described another monetary unit from the Soviet period, the chervonets. A correct translation would have been:
- «By God, they're real! Chervontsi!» joyful cries came from the gallery.
Bulgakov never uses the term ten-rouble bills in The Master and Margarita. He always writes червонец [chervonets] or its plural червонцы [chervontsy], which gives a complete other dimension to the question if the bills «were real or some sort of magic ones». The chernovets was indeed the new official monetary unit introduced by the Soviet government in 1922 to stop the hyperinflation and restrain chaos in the money standard during the civil war. It became and remained the official currency in the Soviet Union until 1947.
However, the Soviet regime did not dare to abolish the rouble. For 25 years, the country has known two currencies: the official chervonets - distrusted by everyone - and the «good old rouble». There was, however, no exchange rate between the two currencies, and officially only the chervonets could be used.
https://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/02themas/h12.html
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