20 Hryven Peresopnytsia Gospels

The Peresopnytsia Gospels, completed in 1561 by scholar Mykhailo Vasyliovych and archimandrite Hryhorii at the Peresopnytsia monastery in Volhynia, were the first translation of the New Testament into the vernacular Ukrainian language — a direct challenge to the Church Slavonic monopoly on scripture. The manuscript passed through Cossack hands, spent time in the Pereiaslav Cathedral, and eventually became the book on which Ukrainian presidents take their oath of office at inauguration.

This coin was issued as part of Ukraine's ongoing program commemorating national cultural monuments, which has produced some of the more ambitious Ukrainian numismatic designs of the post-independence period. The 2011 issue coincides with no particular anniversary of the Gospels' completion.