On 5 January 2016, the National Bank of Ukraine put into circulation two commemorative coins “Shchedryk” with face values of 5 hryvnias (German silver coin) and 20 hryvnias (silver coin), marking the 100 years since this musical piece composed by Leontovych was first performed by the choir.
Today, the NBU has hosted a presentation of these commemorative coins, which were put into circulation in 2016. The presentation was attended by the NBU representatives and the coins' designers – Volodymyr Taran, Oleksandr Kharuk and Serhii Kharuk.
The coins “Shchedryk” represent a continuation of the “Ukrainian Heritage” series and mark the centenary since the Kyiv University Choir first performed “Shchedryk”, a musical piece composed by Mykola Leontovych, the pioneering Ukrainian composer who excelled in creating small choral pieces and arranged about 200 folk songs.
“Shchedryk” is one of the most popular Leontovych’s arrangements, which the composer worked on almost all his life. It is known not only in Ukraine but also in the entire world as “The Carol of the Bells”, “The Ukrainian Bell Carol”, or “The Ukrainian Carol”.
The silver coin packaged in a box is priced at UAH 1,370, while the German silver coin – UAH 38. The mintage stands at 3,000 and 50,000 pieces for silver and German silver coins respectively.
Obverse of the 5-hryvnia coin: on the lusterless surface, the following is depicted: above there is the Small Coat of Arms of Ukraine with the inscription УКРАЇНА (Ukraine) to the right and the year of issue underneath – 2016; against the note rows there is the relief image of a swallow, under which to the right there is the face value 5/ГРИВЕНЬ (5/hryvnias) and the mark of the Mint of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Reverse of the 5-hryvnia coin: there is a group of singing carolers, one of them is holding a Christmas star, above which there are the inscriptions ЩЕДРИК, ЩЕДРИК, ЩЕДРІВОЧКА (shchedryk, shchedryk, shchedrivochka).
Obverse of the 20-hryvnia coin: above there is the Small Coat of Arms of Ukraine with the semicircular inscription – НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ БАНК УКРАЇНИ (National Bank of Ukraine), below - there is the face value ДВАДЦЯТЬ ГРИВЕНЬ (twenty hryvnias); within the bead circle, there is the Christmas star with carolers in the center; to the left of the carolers against the smooth surface, there is the year of issue – 2016; between each pair of rays of the star there are three bells.
Reverse of the 20-hryvnia coin: there is a composition divided into two parts with a conventionalized musical row from “Shchedryk”: above there is a portrait of Mykola Leontovych with a conductor’s baton in his right hand, a swallow is sitting on the composer’s left hand, to the right – there is the inscription МИКОЛА/ЛЕОНТОВИЧ (Mykola/Leontovych); there is the inscription ЩЕДРИК (shchedryk) to the left of the portrait against the background of concentric rings, symbolizing the sounds of music, with an insertion of cubic zirconium oxide; below there is the “carol of bells”: bells against the color holographic rings.