5 Hryven National Independence

Issued to mark the tenth anniversary of Ukrainian independence, declared on August 24, 1991 following the failed coup attempt against Gorbachev three days prior — a moment that accelerated the dissolution of the USSR faster than anyone in Kyiv had planned for. The commemorative was struck in 2001, a period when Ukraine's economy remained deeply unstable, making a circulating-weight commemorative in nickel brass an unusual choice for a central bank still navigating post-Soviet monetary legitimacy.