In a bid to represent history fairly, promote de-russification, and revive Ukraine’s cash circulation traditions, the National Bank of Ukraine is launching a push to rename Ukrainian coins from kopiika to shah.
"Having researched the history of money circulation in Ukraine, we came to an undisputed conclusion that the term kopiika is actually a symbol of muscovite occupation. The Ukrainian people are taking back everything that was stolen from them and mutilated by Kremlin narratives. It’s time to do justice to the monetary system as well, by cleansing Ukraine’s monetary sovereignty of anything even remotely muscovite. We have a specific term of our own – shah – a unique Ukrainian word that refers to small-denomination coins," NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyy said.
Why change the coins’ name
- The revival of the term shah will restore Ukrainian coins’ identity.
The name shah is of Ukrainian origin. The term dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was first used in Ukraine and its coin-counting practices. It’s a Ukraine-specific coin name that no other linguistic cultures have. Shah has been widely used in classical Ukrainian literature. Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, and other writers have often mentioned it in their works.
During the Ukrainian revolution of 1917–1921, banknotes named shah were put into circulation following the passage of respective laws. Which means there is enough historical and linguistic evidence to justify the revival of this practice by Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s cash circulation will be cleared of russian influence.
The term kopiika has its roots in the muscovite imperial tradition. Now that russia has been waging its full-scale war of aggression, the effort to replace kopiikas with shahs is important and necessary, because the other countries that use kopiikas are hostile to Ukraine.
- Renaming the coins will support Ukraine’s de-russification and decolonization efforts.
The processes of de-communization, de-russification, and decolonization in Ukraine began with the collapse of the USSR, gathered speed at the onset of russia’s war against Ukraine in 2014, and continue to be actively pursued today. Steps to decisively remove the centuries-old layers of russification are a crucial responsibility for every public institution.
- It’s the right time to bring Ukraine’s cash circulation traditions back to life.
Contemporary sociological research indicates that the majority of Ukrainians take interest in their country’s history and culture and pride themselves on state symbols, including the Ukrainian language and domestic currency. Currency is a strong symbol of statehood that every Ukrainian holds in their hands every day.
Scientific community supports the NBU's initiative
The first step was made when NBU historians working at the NBU Money Museum had researched the possibility of renaming Ukrainian coins from kopiika to shah.
"We conducted a thorough study of the words that used to denote coins and coin denominations, the specifics of coin- and banknote-counting practices, and Ukraine’s traditions of wealth accumulation. The evidence we gathered gives us grounds to say with confidence that the Ukrainian name for small coins is shah. Reintroducing this term into modern monetary circulation is therefore logical and scientifically justified. The hryvnia has noble origins, and shah reflects our rich Cossack heritage," said Dr Andrii Boiko-Haharin, PhD, Senior Curator of the NBU Money Museum.
The research conclusions made by NBU experts were backed by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, including by positive endorsements from the Institute of History of Ukraine and the Potebnia Institute of Linguistics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
"Shah has been known as a Ukrainian word for small coins since the 16th century. It’s a lexical item specific to Ukraine. Reinstating this name for modern Ukrainian coins would not only revive the traditional nomenclature but also sever the link between Ukrainian coin terms and colonial russian linguistic influences," said Dr Oleksandr Skopnenko, PhD, Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Linguistics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Vladyslav Bezpalko, Senior Fellow at the National Museum of History of Ukraine, for his part, said, “Already in Cossack Ukraine of the mid-17th century, the name shah was widely used in the documents. The short but pithy word shah perfectly illustrates the ability of spoken language to economize on linguistic means. Shah therefore quickly became a popular basic name for small-denomination money and took deep root in the language and Ukrainian culture in general. Today we finally have the opportunity to revise Soviet names and revive what was lost."
"Experts from the Taras Shevchenko National Museum have studied the use of names of monetary units in the works of the Great Kobzar. We found in his texts 11 instances of use of the words shah and little shah, which meant an old coin, half of kopiika. This gives us an idea of the lexical composition of the Ukrainian language of the latter half of the 19th century and confirms the usage of this monetary unit in the trade relations of that time," said Yuliia Shylenko, graduate student at the National Academy of Management of Culture and Arts and chief custodian of the stock collection of the Taras Shevchenko National Museum in Kyiv.
Steps to take going forward
The NBU has developed proposals for the necessary legislative changes, which provide for:
- making relevant amendments to Article 32 of the Law of Ukraine On the National Bank of Ukraine
- declaring the following two resolutions of the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine null and void:
- Resolution No. 2156-XII On Ukrainian Low-Denomination Coins dated 2 March 1992
- Resolution No. 1952-ХІІ On the Approval of the Name and Characteristics of the Ukrainian Currency dated 10 December 1991
- amending the Laws of Ukraine On Non-State Pension Provision, On Capital Markets and Organized Commodity Markets, and Article 249 of the Tax Code of Ukraine to synchronize terminology.
In particular, it is proposed to establish a one-to-one ratio between the kopiika and the shah.
The NBU will develop the design and determine the procedure for introducing shahs into circulation, as well as the procedure and timing for withdrawing kopiikas from circulation.
The NBU will submit the draft laws to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for consideration and approval after they have been agreed with the relevant government authorities.
If the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopts the respective laws, the NBU will be able to proceed with the practical implementation of the initiative: minting and putting into circulation shahs, the Ukrainian small-denomination coins.
At the same time, the NBU does not plan to deliberately withdraw kopiikas from circulation or exchange them for shahs. Both kopiikas and shahs will coexist in parallel. Ukrainians will not need to make additional efforts to exchange kopiikas for shahs.
This will help avoid additional costs associated with the disposal of kopiikas and the production of shahs to replace them.
The gradual introduction of coins denominated in shahs within the planned issue will not affect inflation, as no increase is expected in the amount of cash in the economy.
From the time of the Hetmanate until the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, a small coin called shah circulated in Ukraine.
On 1 March 1918, the Ukrainian Central Council passed a law introducing the hryvnia as the currency of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which provided for the issuance of state credit notes in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, 100, 500, and 1000 hryvnias, as well as coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 20, and 50 shahs. However, the coins were not put into production due to economic and technical difficulties.
Instead, small-denomination money entered circulation: small-change stamps with denominations of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 shahs were issued by the state treasury. The reverse of the stamps featured the inscription "Used on a par with a ringing coin." They were in circulation until they were canceled by the Soviet government in March 1919.
After Ukraine gained independence in 1991, the introduction of the country’s own currency became urgent. The potential name for the coins was the subject of heated debates. Various names were suggested, including shah. Samples of such coins were even produced by the Luhansk Machine-Building Plant in 1992. However, on 2 March 1992, the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the name kopiika.