Russian - 100 Rubles 2013 Sochi 2014 XXl Winter Olympics "AA", "Aa" & "aa"

One Hundred Rubles

Dated 2014 (2013), PNL

All three prefixes

Russian 100 Rubles 2013 Hybrid Commemorative note issued to celebrate the 2014 XXl Winter Olympic games to be held in Sochi Russia. This is the first commemorative note ever issued by Russia. This note was released on 30.10.2013, exactly one hundred days before the opening ceremony of the Winter games (7-23 February 2014). A total of 20 million pieces were issued with letter prefixes of "AA", "Aa" and "aa", sighted so far. This is also a hybrid note printed by the Russian printer Goznak with similar technology like those developed by De La Rue and G&D. The note is printed in vertical format with the polymer strip located horizontally at the lower end of the note. With twenty million pieces printed each with 7-digits prefix, you work it out as to why 3 prefixes have been used. Not many legal tender banknotes commemorating the Olympic games (both Winter and Summer) have been issued in the past. This is the first for the Winter games and the forth for all Olympics games. The others are:  China RMB10, Hong Kong HKD20 and Macau MOP20, all celebrating the 2008 Beijing Summer games.

Reverse

Footnote:
I can't confirm this but I have been told that this is how the prefixes of these notes were printed. With 7 digits serial number, each prefix can print up to 10 million pieces before discounting any errors:-
1. "AA" and "aa" = 18.0 million pieces (presumably 9 million pieces each); and
2. "Aa" = 2.0 million pieces.
Does this mean that "Aa" is the last prefix (just to top up the 20 millions mark) or the replacement prefix for errors? My guess would be the first option unless a specific prefix is used for replacement note! Please feel free to disagree with me.