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25 Karbovantsiv
| Issuer | Ukrainian People's Republic State Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 25 Karbovantsiv (25 карбованців) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A male peasant figure with a spade stands at left and a female figure with sheaves of grain kneels at right, flanking a central guilloche oval enclosing the denomination numeral '25' and the Cyrillic inscription КАРБОВАНЦІВ in bold lettering. The Ukrainian trident (tryzub) state emblem appears at the top centre within an ornamental cartouche. A header inscription ЗНАК ДЕРЖАВНОЇ СКАРБНИЦІ runs along the top, with a further legend at the bottom reading ХОДИТЬ НАРІВНІ З КРЕДИТОВИМ БІЛЕТОМ, all rendered in a fine letterpress print on grey-toned paper. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in reddish-brown tones and centred on an oval vignette containing a facing portrait of a young couple, surrounded by elaborate calligraphic scrollwork. The denomination '25 КАРБОВАНЦІВ' appears across the top, flanked by numeral '25' repeaters at each corner. A lower inscription warns against counterfeiting, and the Ukrainian trident emblem is printed at lower right. |
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| Comments |
The Ukrainian People's Republic had existed for barely a year when this note was issued, having proclaimed independence from Russia in January 1918 and immediately signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers — the first sovereign peace treaty Ukraine ever concluded. The karbovanets itself was introduced as a deliberate break from the Russian ruble, the name revived from a historical Ukrainian monetary unit to signal discontinuity with imperial currency.
The series was designed by Heorhiy Narbut, a graphic artist whose woodcut-influenced style drew on Ukrainian baroque and folk traditions rather than the academic engraving conventions common to European state printing of the period. Narbut died of typhus in 1920, leaving this series among his most complete applied works.