Renowned numismatist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, and Senior Curator of the “Money Museum” Department of the Communications Directorate of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andrii Boiko-Haharin, was the speaker at the lecture-discussion “The History of the Hryvnia and the Shag during the Ukrainian People’s Republic”. The event was moderated by Olena Datsiuk, a researcher at the Museum.
Andrii Boiko-Haharin provided a detailed overview of the formation of the national financial system of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.
The first Ukrainian banknotes with a denomination of 100 karbovanets were issued on December 24, 1917, based on sketches by the prominent graphic artist Heorhii Narbut. The design incorporated historical elements such as Cossack Baroque ornaments, the crossbow (a heraldic symbol of Kyiv in the late medieval and early modern period), and the Trident, the emblem of the Princely State of Volodymyr the Great.
On March 1, 1918, after the proclamation of full independence of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the Central Rada adopted the Law “On the Monetary Unit, Coinage, and Printing of State Credit Notes”, which introduced a new monetary unit – the hryvnia, divided into 100 shahs. The printing of these banknotes was commissioned in Berlin.
Instead of the kopeck, associated with the Russian Empire, the Ukrainian People’s Republic introduced the shah as a small denomination coin and a means of paying postal fees. This symbolized a departure from the former imperial monetary system and contributed to the unification of the financial system of the new state. Denominations of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 shahs were introduced. Their design was also developed by Heorhii Narbut (30, 40, 50 shahs). On the reverse side, the inscription read: “Valid on par with ringing coin.”
At that time, many counterfeit hryvnias circulated as well. As Boiko-Haharin emphasized, this fact testified to the strength and wide circulation of the national currency. Counterfeit notes were usually easy to distinguish from genuine ones, although researchers have discovered forgeries that even contained fake state seals.
With the arrival of Soviet power in Ukraine, Ukrainian banknotes were withdrawn from circulation.
The event was attended by students of Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University and Mykhailo Boichuk Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design. They actively discussed the issue of preserving specimens of the Ukrainian People’s Republic currency – karbovanets, hryvnias, and shah postage stamps, some of which are now kept in the Museum of the War. The exhibition “Symbol on the Shield” also features seals of the Ukrainian People’s Republic financial institutions from the Sheremetiev Museum collection.
The lecture-discussion was not only an educational event but also an opportunity to reflect on the significance of creating a financial system as an essential element of state-building.
