On 11 July 2022, the NBU issued into circulation “In Unity, Strength” commemorative coins. These coins celebrate the national unity of Ukrainians in their fight against russian aggression, and the international support that the entire world is giving Ukraine.
The coins were presented by Deputy NBU Governor Oleksii Shaban in a meeting with the Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova and representatives of the embassies of the following 12 countries: France, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Sweden, the United States, the Czech Republic and Poland. The reverse of these commemorative coins depicts, among other things, the flags of the above countries, which are providing Ukraine with comprehensive humanitarian, economic, security and military aid.
“Helping Ukraine and putting financial pressure on the aggressor are powerful and essential weapons in this war,” said Deputy NBU Governor Oleksii Shaban. “Cutting off key Russian banks from SWIFT, suspending its membership and restricting the country’s access to events and projects run by international financial organizations, prohibiting payments in rubles, the largest trading and information platforms Refinitiv and Bloomberg L.P. suspending their services in russia and belarus, entering into agreements to exchange hryvnia cash with several European central banks, coupled with many other measures, are step-by-step confidently bringing victory for Ukraine closer. We are very grateful to our international partners for their support, and we’d like to perpetuate their efforts and our gratitude in the commemorative coins that we’re happy to present today. These coins symbolically celebrate the strength of the unity of countries around world, which, despite the scale of the threat, is able to protect human lives, freedom and justice.”
“The current russian aggression is a war that’s being fought on Ukrainian territory,” said First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova. “In actual fact, however, the entire civilized world is fighting along with Ukraine – for the values of freedom and democracy. This war as never before has shown that strength is in unity. I believe that together we’ll win.”
The commemorative coins “In Unity, Strength” begin a new series called My Immortal Ukraine. These are the first coins to be issued into circulation by the NBU in wartime. From their idea to their issue, these coins were created in a time of war, to the sound of air raid sirens.
The obverse of the commemorative coins is made to a design called “Unity is Strength” by Alina Maliuta. This design was included in the top five designs based on the results of an open vote to choose the best design that the NBU conducted in April this year. The reverse is based on the design “Assistance from Partner Countries” by Serhii Topkin, who also took part in the competition.
The obverse depicts the following: against a smooth background, in the center, is Ukraine’s small coat of arms (the trident), around which is a stylized composition symbolizing the unity of people of goodwill around the world – a circle of hands that are joined in pairs and surrounded by a blue and yellow ribbon (color-printed/pad-printed).
On the reverse of the coins, above, is the semicircular legend В ЄДНОСТІ – СИЛА/IN UNITY STRENGTH written in Ukrainian and English. Under the legend is a stylized composition of colored flags (color-printed/pad-printed) of the 15 countries that are providing Ukraine with comprehensive aid in fighting russian aggression: the United States, the UK, Poland, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Japan.
The coins can be purchased from distributing banks for commemorative coins and souvenir products: UKRGASBANK, RADABANK, TASCOMBANK, and PrivatBank.
These commemorative coins were presented with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the (the U.K. Government’s Good Governance Fund).
The 10 hryvnia coin is made of silver (Ag 925) in special uncirculated quality. It has a fine weight of 31.1 g, a diameter of 38.6 mm, and a mintage of up to 5,000 units.
The 5 hryvnia coin is made of nickel silver in special uncirculated quality. It has a weight of 16.5 g, a diameter of 35.0 mm, and a mintage of up to 250,000 units (including up to 75,000 in 2022 in souvenir packaging).
Designers – Alina Maliuta, Serhii Topkin and Sviatoslav Ivanenko.
Computer-aided design by Yurii Lukianov.