The National Bank of Ukraine currently observes that the general public shows a keen interest in its numismatic products – commemorative, jubilee and bullion coins.

As of 1 December 2012, the National Bank of Ukraine has sold over one million commemorative coins and 15.5 thousand bullion coins worth UAH 191 million, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Ms. Vira Rychakivska has said.

During the current year, the National Bank of Ukraine put into circulation 37 names (26 types) of commemorative coins, including one gold, 17 silver coins and 19 coins made of nonprecious metal. The total mintage of commemorative coins has reached 634 thousand pieces.

The latest commemorative coins that have been put into circulations this year were the following:

- silver coin "Year of the Snake" from the series "Oriental Calendar", which was launched in 2006, with the coin “Year of the Dog” being the first in the series "Oriental Calendar" (in addition to the above-mentioned coins, the coins devoted to the Year of the Pig, Rat, Ox, Cat and Dragon have already been put into circulation);

- German silver coin “International Year of the Bat”, which continues the coin series dedicated to the international events declared by the United Nations and devoted to the environmental conservation initiatives (the coins from this series such as “Clear Water – a Spring of Life”, “International Year of Astronomy”, “International Year of Forests” have already been put into circulation).

In 2012, the coin “200 Years of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden” dedicated to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden has been put into circulation. In addition, this year the National Bank of Ukraine has put into circulation “1 800 Years of the Town of Sudak” and “350 Years of the City of Ivano-Frankivsk” from the Ancient cities of Ukraine series, the coins “Games of the XXX Olympiad” from the Sport series and the coin “Yeletskyi Holy Dormition Cloister” from the Architectural monuments of Ukraine series. This year the series “Folk Crafts of Ukraine” and “The smallest gold coin” have been completed.

The greatest achievement has been the coin “UEFA EURO 2012TM Poland – Ukraine” issued by the National Bank of Ukraine and National Bank of Poland. Joint efforts by both banks and long years of dedicated work resulted in putting this coin into circulation. The coin, together with another one, comprises a set of two commemorative coins enclosed in a capsule 50 mm in diameter.

Ms. Vira Rychakivska has noted that Ukrainian numismatics is very young as it has existed only for 15 years. Yet, it has become an essential part of national and international history. Over this period, the National Bank of Ukraine has established mint production facilities, set up an art school for engravers and designers, put over 500 names of commemorative coins into circulation.

Putting a commemorative coin into circulation is a long and difficult process that requires the collective effort. The Expert Council on the design issues established at the National Bank of Ukraine is seen as the first and important stage in the process of creating commemorative coins. The Expert Council comprises the NBU experts, members of the National Artists' Union of Ukraine, National Museum of History, etc.

The National Bank of Ukraine creates the commemorative coins in cooperation with the following designers that have been engaged in designing coins for many years: Volodymyr Taran, Oleksandr Kharuk, Serhii Kharuk, Mykola Kochubei, Borys Hrudenko, Maria Skoblikova, Oleksandr Kuzmin, etc. Roman Chaikovsyi, Volodymyr Atamanchuk, Sviatoslav Ivanenko, Volodymyr and Anatolii Demianenko, engravers of the NBU Banknote Printing and Minting Works, put designers’ ideas into life.

“The motto under which we put our commemorative coins into circulation is high principles, superb artistry and high technology. We always try to adhere to these principles when minting coins,” emphasized Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Ms. Vira Rychakivska.