Ukraine 1996 50 hryven
This specimen was lot 75757 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2022), where it sold for $720. The catalog description[1] noted, "UKRAINE. 50 Hryven, 1996. PCGS MS-68. Celebrating the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. Of exceptional quality." The coinage of this state appears to be almost exclusively NCLT's.
Wikipedia comments,
"Since the late 1980s Soviet, and later Ukrainian, politicians promised to return the building to the Orthodox Church. Due to various schisms, and factions within the Church the return was postponed as all Orthodox and the Greek-Catholic Churches lay claim to it. Although all of the Orthodox churches have been allowed to conduct services at different dates, at other times they are denied access. A severe incident was the funeral of Patriarch Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate in 1995 when riot police were forced to prevent the burial on the premises of the museum and a bloody clash took place. After events such as those no religious body has yet been given the rights for regular services. The complex now remains a secular museum of Ukraine's Christianity, with most of its visitors being tourists."
Recorded mintage: 2,000 proofs.
Specification: 3.11 g, 0.999 fine gold, 0.100 troy oz AGW, 16 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: Fr-1; KM-59.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The November 2022 Collectors Choice Ancient & World Coins Auction, Featuring the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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