Ukranian coins?

I guess the Ukraine has not been separate from U.S.S.R that long? I found these, like many, in a coin machine reject bin. I found 3 of the 10 Kopiyok coins.
The top attachment is 50 Kopiyok.

 

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My favorite. :yes:

 

Hmm, apart from the "temporary" Ukrainian countries (between 1917 and 1921), Ukraine has been independent for more than twenty years. But yes, the hryvnia and kopiyok coins were not issued until 1996. And they sure are a nice reject bin find!

Christian

 

The coins were struck in the Luhans'k Cartridge Factory beginning in 1992, there are lots dated that year that are still in circulation. They were released into circulation beginning in 1996 when Ukraine adopted Hryvnia as their currency. For a long time, maybe until 2004 or so the 1992-1996 dated coins were the coins most often encountered in circulation. The crazy part of the early coinage was that when they were planning it they did some patterns with variations of the design and I got a 25 kopeikii coin in change a few years ago that was an unadopted pattern. It seems that some of the patterns may have been mixed in with the circulation coinage before they were released. Nowadays more of the coins are recent mintage as the mint has caught up with demand. So much so that the small steel coins, ie 1, 2, and 5 kopeika are littering the streets.

 

I see that ScottishMoney mentioned the kopiyok was not released until 1996.

 

Hryven currency replaced the "kuponyi" in 1996, the kuponyi were the ruble replacement notes made starting in 1992 to replace rubles. Good thing for me many people still refer to currency as ruble and rublei because it is what I am used to.

Here is coin that can be bought sometimes in banks still:



Here is a photograph taken in Kyiv of the memorial to the victims of holodomor:



It is a big enough deal that they even have signs in English, but sometimes NOT in Russian.

 

And in which way would that be substantially different from the "hryvnia and kopiyok coins were not issued until 1996" comment that I wrote?

Christian

 

The coin I have was minted in 1992. I am a little confused though about this. The kuponyi replaced the ruble in 1992 but it wasn't released until 1996? Did they stay withe the ruble from 1992 to 1996? I also found your avatar in a reject bin as well.

 

Once the USSR fell apart, Ukraine used this karbovanets "coupon" currency that scottishmoney mentioned. Have not seen such "kuponyi" myself, but here is some info about them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_karbovanets#Third_karbovanets.2C_1992-1996

My avatar piece is an Italian €1 coin with Leonardo's Vitruvian Man as the main design element. I use (or at least could use ) it every day, as I am in the euro area ...

Christian

 

Ukraine started having currency printed by Canadian Banknote, and then coins minted by Luhans'k Cartridge factory beginning in 1992. The economic situation in Ukraine was not stable enough to release the permanent currency until 1996 which was why coins and banknotes are dated 1992 etc. The kuponyi were pretty unpopular, those were printed in France, but because the economy was in turmoil they lost value so that in the end 1000000 kuponyi notes were being issued and even they were not enough money. People's salaries of course did not nearly keep up and practically everybody I know was wiped out financially at least once during 1991-1996.

When the hryvnia was released into circulation in 1996 it was at a rate of about 2 to an American dollar. Value slipped over time and by 2001 Hryvnia dipped to 5 to the dollar. In Fall of 2008 it took another precipitous dive with banking crisis worldwide and lack of confidence in some Ukrainian banks. It slipped from 5 to the dollar to more than 8 to the dollar in October.

No wonder that people prefer to keep their larger sums of money in Dollars, Euros, or even Rubles.

 

Is there a big difference between the Ukrainian and Russian cultures? I always assumed there was some but very little difference between the two, say like in the US (Yankee-North and Dixie-South).

 

Loaded question. Let us just say there are many differing opinions, in politics, business etc. Language is a real hot button issue, the government officially mandated usage of Ukrainian language in all government business etc. But a small majority of people speak mostly or only Russian as a first language. A legacy of really being a part of Russia for over 300 years is that east of Dnepr River people speak Russian. The mainly Ukrainian speaking regions in the west were part of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth or later part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918.

Here is a banknote issued in Bukovina region, a mostly Ukrainian speaking area that for a bit of time after the dismemberment of the Austro-Hungarian empire became part of Romania:



I have been places in Ukraine that in the past couple of hundred years have been controlled by the Ottoman Turks, the Bulgarians, the Romanians, then the Russians, then the USSR, then Romania, then USSR again, now Ukraine. It is hotly contested territory. Ever go to Ukraine and you may find out real reason why.

 

And while looking for images found a weeks worth of accumulated pocket change:

 

National Bank of Ukraine has issues' regarding culture of Ukraine and their site has pretty good explanation of the coins.

http://www.bank.gov.ua/control/en/currentmoney/cmcoin/search

 

I had a college professor whose family was Ukrainian, and I made some comment that it was basically the same as Russian. She wasn't amused. If nothing else, the Russians mistreated the Ukrainians a lot and there's bad blood there. For example, Ukraine was known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union, and during one period Stalin took all their grain and sold it while the people starved.

 

Funny. I had a professor who's family was from Russia and he had some reservations about Ukranians.

 

It's not right. Ukrainian economy was based on a Russian capital investment. Ukraine was the breadbasket of the USSR. But Ukraine hasn't an own oil, hasn't an own petrol, hasn't an own gas. Russia gave petrol to Ukraine and Ukraine gave a wheat to Russia. It was mutually advantageous exchange.
Moreover. Ukrainians and Russians are the same ethnos. After all we don't consider Texans and inhabitants of Pennsylvania as representatives of different nationalities! Moreover, my father is Russian and my mother is Ukrainian woman with the Polish roots.

 

Interesting. I wonder why then it's such a hot issue here in the US with immigrants from the Ukraine and Russia?

 

Oh, I don't know.

 

But such things change, for a variety of reasons. In the US that may be different, but in Europe ... see the Czech and Slovak republics, see Germany and Austria after WW1, or think of Catalonia and Caledonia (errm, Scotland). In some cases it may be the leading politicians who "push" such questions of ethnicity, in others it is the people, and often it's both.

Those who emigrate are in yet another situation, I think. Emigrants will take an image of their home (and why they left or had to leave it) with them, and if that is dominated by an ethnic conflict, such views may continue for a long time.

Christian