The National Bank of Ukraine has issued and put into circulation a series of commemorative coins, which are dedicated to the final tournament of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. The presentation of a series of coins was held at the Olimpiysky National Sports Complex today, on 27 December 2011, with the participation of Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Borys Kolesnikov and Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Volodymyr Krotiuk.
The complete series of coins comprises 11 commemorative coins ranging from 5 to 500 hryvnias, which are made of gold, silver and German silver as well as a circulation coin of 1 hryvnia face value. All the coins bear the image of the official UEFA Euro 2012 logo, as the National Bank of Ukraine has received permission to use the official symbols of this championship (on silver coins this logo is holographic).
"Under our concept, the commemorative coins present the four cities, which will host the Football Championship matches – Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv, and coins, which are dedicated to the final tournament of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship", said Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Volodymyr Krotiuk at the presentation.
In addition, the National Bank of Ukraine for the first time has issued into circulation a commemorative coin made of gold with a fineness of 999.9, which weighs 500 g. The mintage quantity of this coin with a face value of 500 hryvnias is limited to 500 pieces.
"This coin embodies an interesting artistic conception – around the coin obverse circumference there are depicted silhouettes of architectural monuments of Ukrainian and Polish cities, which will host the Final Tournament matches, figurines of football players, as well as dates for holding the Football Championship matches are indicated, there is placed an image of the official UEFA Euro 2012 logo in the coin centre, which is made with application of enamel," stressed Volodymyr Krotiuk.
In order to ensure accessibility of commemorative coins devoted to the Euro 2012 for a wide range of football fans and numismatists, the National Bank of Ukraine plans to sell them through its regional departments in all regions of Ukraine, as well as through the branches of Public Joint Stock Company "Ukrsotsbank" operating under trade mark UniCredit Bank, which has been chosen as the national sponsor of the UEFA Euro 2012.
The silver coins will be sold in sets of five coins – coins with a face value of 10 hryvnias, net content weight of 31.1 g (1 ounce), which are dedicated to the four cities – Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv, as well as the coin with a face value of 20 hryvnias and net content weight of 62.2 g (2 ounces), which is dedicated to the final match to be held in Kyiv. All the other coins can be purchased on a piecemeal basis.
Coins are a legal tender of Ukraine and shall be accepted without any restrictions at their face value for all types of payments as well as for placing to the settlement accounts, on deposits, for letters of credit and transfers.