In Support of Ukraine

The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are all issuing commemorative coins in support of and to help raise funds for Ukraine.

Eesti Pank has recently put a commemorative €2 coin into circulation, the national side of which features the words Slava Ukraini and shows a girl as a symbol of tenderness, protecting a bird in her hand. The design also features an ear of wheat. The coin was designed by a young refugee from Kharkiv, Daria Titova, who is studying at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

A total of 2 million of the coins have been produced by the Mint of Finland.

The coin can also be bought for charitable purposes as a commemorative product on a coin card, the proceeds from the sales of which will go to support Ukraine.

The Bank of Latvia has unveiled the design of its €2 commemorative coin, featuring a sunflower – Ukraine’s national flower and a symbol of its fight for peace. 415,000 of the coins will be minted and issued in early 2023.

In the meantime, it has issued a €5 silver commemorative coin entitled ‘For the Freedom of Ukraine’, with the design focusing on the word ВОЛЯ, which has multiple means in Ukrainian – Freedom, Will and Power. The reverse of the coin features a bird and a gold star, symbolising a future political promise – namely Ukraine becoming part of the European Union. 5,000 of the coins have been produced.

The Bank held a competition to design the coin, bringing together five acknowledged artists from Ukraine. The winning design was by Sergiy Maidukov.

Lietuvos Bank has also issued a commemorative silver coin, this time a €10 designed by Ukrainian artist Svitlana Matvieienko. The reverse depicts hands in the colours of the Ukrainian flag surrounding a stylised outline of Ukraine. The coin is decorated with the inscriptions in Lithuanian and Ukrainian. The front features the Lithuanian and Ukrainian coats of arms. 5,000 have been minted.

The coins, along with those for Latvia, were produced by the Lithuanian Mint. The central banks of both countries will transfer most of the proceeds of the sale of the coins to the National Bank of Ukraine for humanitarian aid.

The Bank of Lithuania will also be issuing a commemorative €2 coin in early 2023. The centre of the national side of the coin features a stylised sunflower designed as a rising sun, with petals resembling silhouettes of people holding hands.

The production run is 450,000 coins for circulation in rolls and 15,000-50,000 coins in BU quality (in blisters), depending on collectors’ demand.

In addition to its neighbours and allies, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) itself has issued a circulation commemorative coin entitled the ‘Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces’, part of a series honouring the country’s armed service personnel.

The specifications are the same as the nickel plated zinc 10 hryvnia circulation coin of 2018, as is the design on the front. But the design of the reverse features two stylised figures of servicemen, the logotype of the Territorial Defence Forces, and their motto ‘Ready for Resistance’. The coin has a mintage of up to 10 million (including 500,000 units as souvenir products in specially designed rolls).

The NBU has also issued two commemorative coins to mark Ukraine’s acquisition of EU candidacy status, a historic event that took place this June to demonstrate European solidarity with Ukraine. One is a silver 10 hryvnia, of which 5,000 have been produced. The other is a cupronickel 5 hryvnia, of which 75,000 have been produced.