FOCUS ON NUMISMATICS: Ukraine arrives on the numismatic scene (04/18/99)

FOCUS ON NUMISMATICS

by Ingert Kuzych

Ukraine arrives on the numismatic scene

Less than five years ago Ukraine did not have any coins in circulation; the populace instead used small paper karbovantsi-coupons as a medium of exchange. The remarkable monetary transformation that has occurred since then has been spearheaded by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), which has brought on line separate facilities for the production of bank notes and for coins that are among the most sophisticated in the world.

The arrival of Ukraine on the world's numismatic scene has been largely unheralded; this article will attempt to help remedy that situation.

Setting up a national currency

One of the preconditions of a strong and stable currency is its cheap and efficient production and circulation. Thus, one of the NBU's first priorities after independence was the creation of currency production centers. By 1994, less than three years after the break-up of the USSR, Ukraine had its own Banknote Printing Works, where paper money of international-standard quality, security level and design could be produced.

The establishment of a coin-producing mint works, however, took longer and followed a more convoluted path. Ukrainian commemorative (collectible) coins were first made available in 1995, one year before general circulation coins were released with Ukrainian monetary reform (during September of 1996, when the karbovanets was dropped in favor of the new hryvnia). All these early coins were produced at a temporary facility, a converted factory in Luhansk. They were the first coins minted on Ukrainian soil in over 300 years.

Planning for a national coin production facility in Kyiv began in 1995, but it was not until the close of 1997 that the first stage of the NBU's mint was put into operation and not until April 23, 1998, that the new Ukrainian Mint building was officially opened in the capital. Present at the ribbon-cutting were Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma and also Austria's Chancellor Viktor Klima, since the Austrian Mint had served as the general contractor in the construction and equipping of the new Ukrainian facility.

Production of commemorative coins

The gold commemorative coin "Kyiv Psalmbook," dedicated to the 600th anniversary of this unique work of Ukrainian literature, became the first coin minted at the NBU Mint and the first new coin produced in Kyiv in almost 900 years - since the time of the medieval Kyivan Rus' state, (see Figure 1). The mint was also equipped to satisfy all of the Ukrainian government's needs for medals, orders and badges.

The new mint enterprise is being called "the pride of Ukraine," and the entire construction project has been nominated for the Ukrainian State Prize. A few statistics give an idea of the production capacity inherent in the new plant: the mint can annually produce 1.5 billion coins for circulation, over 1 million special jubilee or commemorative coins, and 200,000 orders and medals. Over the course of last year alone, since the April unveiling, the enterprise minted 14 commemorative coins of precious metals (gold or silver) and nine of cupronickel (copper-nickel-zinc alloy), whose combined total was over 1.1 million units.

The mint is equipped to handle all stages of the coin production process from initial designing, to modeling, to pattern creation and final impression. Commemorative coins are fashioned on German computer-controlled Graebner hydraulic presses. This state-of-the-art equipment allows for the manufacture of coins using immense pressure - a process that not only improves the quality and detail on the finished product, but also prolongs life of the minting tools and machinery. (The majority of coin enterprises in the world today still use blow-type presses in which coin blanks are struck to produce an impression.) There are only five Graebner hydraulic presses in existence; four are at the new mint.

Survey of commemorative coin topics

From 1995 through last year, a total of 61 commemorative coins have been released covering 45 subjects. The largest category depicts a wide range of "Outstanding Personalities" from Ukraine's past: Taras Shevchenko (poet and artist), Lesia Ukrainka (writer), Solomyia Krushelnytska (opera singer), Yurii Kondratiuk (space scientist), Petro Mohyla (ecclesiastical figure), and Mykhailo Hrushevsky (historian). Another major grouping, that of Ukrainian architecture, features many of Ukraine's most famous cathedrals; (Figure 2). Other topics present: "Heroes of the Kozak Age" (B. Khmelnytsky and Severyn Nalyvaiko), "Princes of Ukraine" (Kyi and Danylo of Halych), "Flora and Fauna," and "Olympic Sports."

A new theme to begin this year is titled "The Bimillennium of Christianity." Subjects slated for depiction include the baptism of Rus' by Prince Volodymyr the Great and a Christmas celebration in Ukraine.

Promoting their product

In July of 1996, the NBU participated for the first time in the American Numismatic Association (ANA) annual World's Fair, exhibiting the silver commemorative coins minted by Ukraine up to that time and attracting special interest as a new purveyor of fine collectible items.

Participation in subsequent shows has brought ever larger recognition, success and marketing sophistication. In 1998 the NBU printed an attractive full-color 48-page booklet to draw attention to Ukraine's numismatic creations.

For this year, the NBU has gone all out and published a spectacular new bilingual (Ukrainian-English) journal, Ukrainian Numismatics and Bonistics, that is due to appear twice a year. This publication is as slick and beautiful as any I have ever reviewed. (As a matter of fact, it's hard to believe that it's 100 percent designed and printed in Ukraine).

The first issue (96 pages) released in January is in full color on heavy stock paper and includes a special insert describing and illustrating all of Ukraine's commemorative coins from 1995. Seven other fine articles cover not only Ukraine's new mint and coin production process, but go back in time to cover the coins and paper money (the subject of bonistics) used on Ukrainian territories through various periods of history (from the dolphin coins of the Greek Black Sea colonies in the sixth century B.C. to the Austro-Hungarian kronen used in Galicia through World War I).

I'm certain this new publication (perhaps even the second issue) will be available at the ANA World's Fair of Money to take place in Chicago on August 11-15. Dozens of countries participate in this largest of American shows. The NBU should have no trouble holding its own among the other national mints that will be participating; its splendid emissions are on par with any in the world today.

If you're in the area during the summer months, you may wish to visit this mammoth international exhibit and see for yourself how well Ukraine's products compare. If you're a fine arts collector/investor, then this is an opportunity not to be missed.

The coins of Kyivan Rus'

The first centralized state on Ukrainian lands was Kyivan Rus', and the coins authorized by several of its rulers are the numismatic forerunners to the emissions prepared in today's mint. Most of those early coins carried the dynastic trident (or in some cases, bident) emblem; it is this symbol that Ukrainian governments have twice formally readopted this century (in 1918 and 1992) to emphasize the link with the medieval entity and Ukraine's status as a successor state.

Some 308 surviving coins of Kyivan Rus' are definitely known (about 40 more are described, but their whereabouts are unknown); they are broadly grouped by their composition: gold ("zlatnyk," Figure A, only 11 described) or silver ("sriblianyk," Figure B, about 340 recorded), but we do not know what their original names were. All of these numismatic rarities carry the inscriptions of the ruler who minted them and it is by these names that the coins are further classified.

There is no dispute that Volodymyr the Great (who ruled in 980-1015) is depicted on all of the zlatnyky; however, which rulers were responsible for the minting of the various types of sriblianyky has long been the topic of numismatic debate. Most of the sriblianyky are labeled either Volodymyr, Sviatopolk or Yaroslav; they have traditionally been attributed to the three rulers who reigned in the late 10th and early 11th centuries, and their minting is thought to have been confined to a three-decade period in 990-1020.

A recent masterful reassessment of Rus' coins by Omeljan Pritsak, professor emeritus of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (in "The Origins of the Old Rus' Weights and Monetary Systems"), attributes some sriblianyky to several later rulers and their minting as late as the beginning of the 12th century.

Knowing that Byzantine (Greek) fashions strongly influenced the Rus' court, especially after the adoption of Christianity by Rus' (988), Prof. Pritsak examined the various ways Byzantine rulers had themselves presented on coins and how Rus' rulers copied the Greek preferences. He makes a convincing case for ascribing many Rus' coins to new (different) rulers (e.g., many "Volodymyr" coins were most likely struck not by "The Great Christianizer" but by his great-grandson Volodymyr Monomakh, who ruled in various cities from 1078 to 1125). In all, eight rulers can be identified, compared to five listed by the customary classification.

Not everyone is ready to adopt the revised coinage classification, however. Mykola Kotlyar, dean of Ukrainian medievalists at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv) and author of an article on Rus' coinage in the first issue of Ukrainian Numismatics and Bonistics, does not mention any alternate interpretations when setting forth the traditional schema.

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