Banknotes of the Ukrainian hryvnia

Banknotes of Ukrainian hryvnia are the banknotes or bills (in common lexicon) of Ukraine, denominated in Ukrainian hryvnias (UAH, ₴). Currently, they are issued in ₴1, ₴2, ₴5, ₴10, ₴20, ₴50, ₴100, ₴500 denominations. All current notes are issued by the National Bank of Ukraine, which released its first series of notes in 1991. The current series of hryvnia banknotes were introduced into circulation between 2004 and 2006. Banknotes issued in Ukraine can be viewed at the Currency Museum of the National Bank of Ukraine in Kyiv.

Banknotes

In 1996, the first series of hryvnia banknotes was introduced into circulation by the National Bank of Ukraine. They were dated 1992 and were in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 hryven’. The design of the banknotes was developed by Ukrainian artists Vasyl Lopata and Borys Maksymov.^[1][2] One hryvnya banknotes were printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company in 1992. Two, five and ten hryvnya banknotes were printed two years later. Until introduction into circulation the banknotes were kept in Canada.^[1]

Banknotes of the first series in denominations of 50 and 100 hryven' also existed but due to unknown reasons they were never introduced.

Also in 1996, the 1, 50, and 100 hryvnia notes of the second series were introduced, with 1 hryvnia dated 1994. The banknotes were designed and printed by British printer De La Rue.^[3] Since the opening of the Mint of the National Bank of Ukraine in cooperation with De La Rue in March 1994 all banknotes have been printed in Ukraine.^[3]

Later, highest denominations were added. The 200 hryvnia notes of the second series were introduced in 2001, followed by the 500 hryvnia notes of the third series in 2006.

All hryvnia banknotes issued by the National Bank continue to be a legal tender. As of 2008, the banknotes of early series can rarely be found in circulation. Also, despite the devaluing of the currency since its introduction, all kopeck coins remain in circulation, as well as all low-value hryvnia bills, including 1 hryvnia.

As with the U.S. dollar, the 1 hryvnia bill is commonly used, and the 1 hryvnia coin is rarely seen. The 100 hryvnia denomination is quite common due to its moderately high value, much as with the US$20 bill. Also common is the 200 hryvnia, as most Ukrainian ATMs dispense currency in this denomination.

First Series

First Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	first printing	issue
		₴1	135 х 70 mm	Dark green	Vladimir I of Kiev	Ruins of Chersonesos	1992	September 2, 1996
		₴2		Brown	Yaroslav the Wise	Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev
		₴5		Dark blue	Bohdan Khmelnytsky	A church in the village of Subotiv
		₴10		Violet	Ivan Mazepa	Kiev Pechersk Lavra
		₴20		Yellow and brown	Ivan Franko	Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Second Series

Second Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	first printing	issue
		₴1	133 × 66 mm	Green and brown	Vladimir I of Kiev	Ruins of Chersonesos	1994	September 1, 1997
		₴2		Brown	Yaroslav the Wise	The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev	1995
		₴5		Blue	Bohdan Khmelnytsky	A church in the Selo (village) of Subotiv.	1994
		₴10		Brown and yellow	Ivan Mazepa	The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra
		₴20		Brown and green	Ivan Franko	The Lviv Opera Theater	1995
		₴50		Yellow and violet	Mykhailo Hrushevsky	The building of the Verkhovna Rada	Not indicated on the banknotes	September 2, 1996
		₴100		Rose and green	Taras Shevchenko (old portrait)	The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev
		₴200		Blue	Lesya Ukrainka	The Entrance Tower of Lutsk Castle		August 22, 2001
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Third Series

Denomination and dimensions	Image		Main colour	Obverse	Reverse	Date of issue
1 hryvnia 118 x 63 mm			Grey	Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958 – 1015), Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kiev Ruler of Kievan Rus' in (980–1015)	The Vladimir I's Fortress Wall in Kiev	December 1, 2004
1 hryvnia 118 x 63 mm			Yellow-blue	Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958 – 1015), Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kiev Ruler of Kievan Rus' in (980–1015)	The Vladimir I's Fortress Wall in Kiev	May 22, 2006
2 hryvni 118 x 63 mm			Orange	Yaroslav the Wise (c. 978 – 1054), Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kiev Ruler of Kievan Rus' in (1019–1054)	The Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kiev	September 24, 2004
5 hryven' 118 x 63 mm			Blue	Bohdan Khmelnytsky (c. 1595 – 1657), Hetman of Ukraine	A church in the village of Subotiv	June 14, 2004
10 hryven' 124 x 66 mm			Crimson	Ivan Mazepa (1639 – 1709), Hetman of Ukraine	The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra	November 1, 2004
10 hryven' 124 x 66 mm			Crimson	Ivan Mazepa (1639 – 1709), Hetman of Ukraine	The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra	August, 2006
20 hryven' 130 x 69 mm			Green	Ivan Franko (1856 – 1916), poet and writer	The Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet	December 1, 2003
50 hryven' 136 x 72 mm			Violet	Mykhailo Hrushevskyi (1866 – 1934), historian and politician.	The Tsentralna Rada building ("Teachers' House" in Kiev).	March 29, 2004
100 hryven' 142 x 75 mm			Olive	Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), poet and artist	The Chernecha Hill near Cherkasy and the figures of a kobzar with his guide boy.	February 20, 2006
100 hryven' 142 x 75 mm			Olive	Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), poet and artist	Red University Building.	March 9, 2015
200 hryven' 148 x 75 mm			Pink	Lesya Ukrainka (1871 – 1913), poet and writer	The Entrance Tower of Lutsk Castle.	May 28, 2007
500 hryven' 154 x 75 mm			Brown	Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722 – 1794), writer and composer	The Kyiv Mohyla Academy buildings.	September 15, 2006
500 hryven' 154 x 75 mm			Brown	Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722 - 1794), writer and composer	The Kyiv Mohyla Academy buildings.	April, 11, 2016

References

Ukraine currency and coinage
Topics	Ukrainian hryvnia National Bank of Ukraine Hryvnia sign
Current coinage	1 kopiyka 2 kopiyky 5 kopiyok 10 kopiyok 25 kopiyok 50 kopiyok 1 hryvnia Commemoratives
Paper money	₴1 ₴2 ₴5 ₴10 ₴20 ₴50 ₴100 ₴200 ₴500
History	Grzywna (unit) Ukrainian karbovanets Ukrainian shah