20 Hryven 1000 years since the reign of Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav Volodymyrovych ruled Kyivan Rus from 1019 until his death in 1054, a reign during which he codified the first East Slavic law code — the Ruska Pravda — forged dynastic marriages across European courts from France to Norway, and oversaw construction of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. His court was by any measure one of the more sophisticated in eleventh-century Europe. The 2019 issue marks exactly a millennium from his consolidation of sole rule following the defeat of his brother Sviatopolk.

The local gilding technique applied selectively to the silver planchet is a production detail worth noting: the National Bank of Ukraine has used this two-finish approach on several commemorative issues, but execution quality varies by issue. On KM#960, the gilded zones are applied prior to striking rather than after, which affects the crispness of the boundary between surfaces.