1 Zlotnik Wild horse

The zlotnik is a pre-metric unit of weight used across the Russian Empire and its predecessor states, equal to roughly 4.266 grams — its revival here as a denomination name is a deliberate act of numismatic archaeology by the National Bank of Ukraine, connecting modern coinage to a monetary vocabulary that disappeared from official use in the nineteenth century. This series launched in 2020 as a frankly unusual experiment: legal-tender brass pieces issued in genuine circulation format but carrying denomination names with no living monetary tradition behind them.

The Przewalski's horse, the subject here, was declared extinct in the wild by the 1960s before reintroduction programs in Mongolia and, notably, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone restored feral populations.