2019-07-24 Wed

On 22nd July, Ukraine released a large silver Proof coin to celebrate the occasion when the country's Orthodox Church was declared as an autonomous institution. The coins are produced by Ukrainian Mint for the National Bank and designed by Sergey Haruk, Alexander Kharuk, and Volodymyr Taran. The obverse side depicts Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew handing over the scroll to Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphanius. Two Ukrainian inscriptions translate to "15th church in the blessed choir of Autocephal Churches" and "the Holy Church of Ukraine". The date when the process was completed 06.01.2019 is also inscribed.

The reverse side shows the state emblem of Ukraine, along with the inscriptions Y???I??, 2019, “50 hriven” in Ukrainian language, a cruciform, a seal of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and medallions showing Cathedrals of 14 other independent Orthodox churches around the globe. The half kilogram .999 fine Silver Proof coin with selective gold plating has a diameter of 85 millimetres and a mintage limit of 1,000 pieces. The coins are encapsulated and placed in a specially designed case with a numbered certificate of authenticity.

On 11th October 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that the Church of Ukraine would become independent from the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the 16 autocephalous that are a part of the Eastern Orthodox Church headed by the Archbishop of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. The Tomos approved by the Bishops’ Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was donated to the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The process for the autonomy was finalised on the 5th January 2019.

Image Courtesy: The National Bank of Ukraine