5 Hryven Nikitsky Botanical Garden

The Nikitsky Botanical Garden, founded in 1812 near Yalta on the southern Crimean coast, was established by imperial decree under Alexander I and initially directed by Christian Steven, a Finnish-born botanist who spent decades assembling one of the most significant plant collections in the Russian Empire. Ukraine issued this coin in 2012 to mark the garden's bicentennial. At the time of issue, the garden remained under Ukrainian administration — Crimea's annexation by Russia was still two years away, a geopolitical shift that has since complicated the institution's official status considerably.