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TheUkrainian hryvnia has been the nationalcurrency ofUkraine since 1996. It was briefly used in theUkrainian People's Republic before thekarbovanets was adopted as a national currency. The hryvnia is named after thegrivna, which was used inKievan Rus' and other states.
The word “hryvnia” inKievan Rus' first meant a decoration worn at the nape of the neck, which often served asa measure of weight at the time. The first mention of "hryvnia" in the meaning of currency is found in "The Tale of Bygone Years" between 8th and 9th centuries.[1] The chronicle relates thatPrince Oleg the Prophet, coming from the North, began to rule in Kyiv and "established to give the Vikings from Novgorod three hundred hryvnias a year, for peace," indicating that in the hryvnia was used as a measure of weight and counting from the 8th to 9th centuries when conducting trade operations or paying tribute.
In the 11th century, the word "hryvnia" began to be used to refer to weight, with 11th century silver hryvnia coins weighing between 160 and 205 grams appearing in Kievan Rus'.
There were several types of hryvnias, with the most common in circulation called theKyiv hryvnia. The Kyiv hryvnia existed before theTatar invasion of Kievan Rus' and had a hexagonal shape which weighed 150 grams and was made of silver. In addition, there were theNovgorod hryvnias, initially known only in north-western lands. The Novgorod hryvnias had the appearance of long silver sticks and weighed 240 grams. TheChernihiv hryvnia was a transitional from theKyiv hryvnia to theNovgorod hryvnia, and it's shape resembled that of theKyiv hryvnia while its weight was close to the weight of theNovgorod hryvnia.
The first money made of gold and silver in Ukraine were produced during the rule ofGrand Prince of KievVladimir the Great (Volodymyr the Great). These coins had an image of a trident which was used as a symbol of the princes of Kiev. The name of the coins werezlatnyks (gold coins)and sriblianyks (silver coins). The two sides of the golden coin depicted Prince Vladimir andJesus Christ. The silver coins were minted by Kievan princes as well as in other principalities, including thePrincipality of Chernigov andNovgorod.
From the 12th to 14th centuries,Kievan Rus' began to decline, with the population and feudals began using silver ingots to replace the deficient gold or silver coins minted by the princes previously. In the mid-14th century, new coins started being minted, and they gradually went out of circulation and remained solely as a unit of counting.
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During theUkrainian Revolution in 1917–1921, the establishment of a national currency was a key priority of the Ukrainian state. On 22 December 1917, theCentral Council establishedUkraine's state bank. Mykhailo Kryvetskyi was appointed as the first director of the bank. He signed the first banknote (100 karbovanets banknote), issued byUkrainian People's Republic, on 5 January 1918. One karbovanets equaled to 0.767 grams of gold.
In 100 karbovanets banknotes, a trident was included in the design as a reference to the gold and silver coins minted by Volodymyr the Great, which similarly depicted a trident as a major symbol.
On 1 March 1918, the Central Council introduced a new currency, the hryvnia, consisting of 100 shahs and equaled to 1/2 of the previously issued karbovanets banknote.
In April 1918,Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky reintroduced the karbovanets as the main currency of Ukraine. It consisted of 200 shahs, and denominations of 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 and 1,000 karbovanets were issued.
In 1991, theNational Bank of Ukraine started emission of couponkarbovanets. In September 1996, a currency reform was performed by theNational Bank of Ukraine and its headViktor Yushchenko. As a result, a new currency calledhryvnia was introduced.
The National Bank of Ukraine issued 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 banknotes, and minted 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50kopiikas.
In early 2020, the National Bank of Ukraine issued 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 banknotes with a plan to stop issuing the 10-hryvnia banknote denomination in June and replacing it with a coin.[2]
On 2 September 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine proposed to rename the kopiika to the historicalshah as a part of thederussification campaign.[3]
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