Banknotes of the Ukrainian hryvnia

In 1996, the first series of hryvnia banknotes was introduced into circulation by the National Bank of Ukraine. They were dated 1992 and were in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 hryven’. The design of the banknotes was developed by Ukrainian artists Vasyl Lopata and Borys Maksymov.[1][2] One hryvnia banknotes were printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company in 1992. Two, five and ten hryvnia banknotes were printed two years later. Until introduction into circulation the banknotes were kept in Canada.[1]

Banknotes of the first series in denominations of 50 and 100 hryven' also existed but due to unknown reasons they were never introduced.

Also in 1996, the 1, 50, and 100 hryvnia notes of the second series were introduced, with 1 hryvnia dated 1994. The banknotes were designed and printed by British printer De La Rue.[3] Since the opening of the Mint of the National Bank of Ukraine in cooperation with De La Rue in March 1994 all banknotes have been printed in Ukraine.[3]

Later, highest denominations were added. The 200 hryvnia notes of the second series were introduced in 2001, followed by the 500 hryvnia notes of the third series in 2006.

All hryvnia banknotes issued by the National Bank continue to be a legal tender. As of 2008, the banknotes of early series can rarely be found in circulation. Also, despite the devaluing of the currency since its introduction, all kopeck coins remain in circulation, as well as all low-value hryvnia bills, including 1 hryvnia.

As with the U.S. dollar, the 1 hryvnia bill is commonly used, and the 1 hryvnia coin is rarely seen. The 100 hryvnia denomination is quite common due to its moderately high value, much as with the US$20 bill. Also common is the 200 hryvnia, as most Ukrainian ATMs dispense currency in this denomination.

The total number of counterfeit hryvnia banknotes in 2015 and 2016 was 2.8 forged bills per 1 million legitimate ones.[4] Almost 10,500 counterfeit hryvnia banknotes worth UAH 3.6 million (U.S. dollar 137,562) were withdrawn from circulation in 2017.[4] The 200 hryvnia is the banknote most counterfeited (61% of all forged banknotes in 2017).[4]

First Series

First Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	first printing	issue	withdrawal	lapse
		₴1	135 х 70 mm	Dark green	Volodymyr the Great of Kyiv	Ruins of Chersonesos	1992	2 September 1996	15 July 2003	1 October 2020
		₴2		Brown	Yaroslav the Wise	Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv
		₴5		Dark blue	Bohdan Khmelnytsky	A church in the village of Subotiv
		₴10		Violet	Ivan Mazepa	Kyiv Pechersk Lavra
		₴20		Yellow and brown	Ivan Franko	Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Second Series

Second Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	first printing	issue	withdrawal	lapse
		₴1	133 × 66 mm	Green and brown	Volodymyr the Great of Kyiv	Ruins of Chersonesos	1994	1 September 1997	2004	1 October 2020
		₴2		Brown	Yaroslav the Wise	The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv	1995
		₴5		Blue	Bohdan Khmelnytsky	A church in the Selo (village) of Subotiv.	1994
		₴10		Brown and yellow	Ivan Mazepa	The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra			2010
		₴20		Brown and green	Ivan Franko	The Lviv Opera Theater	1995
		₴50		Yellow and violet	Mykhailo Hrushevsky	The building of the Verkhovna Rada	Not indicated on the banknotes	2 September 1996
		₴100		Rose and green	Taras Shevchenko (old portrait)	The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv
		₴200		Blue	Lesya Ukrainka	The Entrance Tower of Lutsk Castle		22 August 2001
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Third Series

Denomination and dimensions	Image		Main colour	Obverse	Reverse	First printing	Date of issue	Withdrawal
1 hryvnia 118 x 63 mm			Grey	Volodymyr the Great of Kyiv (c. 958 – 1015), Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kyiv Ruler of Kyiv Rus in (980–1015)	Volodymyr I's Fortress Wall in Kyiv	2004	1 December 2004	1 October 2020
1 hryvnia 118 x 63 mm			Yellow-blue	Volodymyr the Great of Kyiv (c. 958 – 1015), Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kyiv Ruler of Kyiv Rus in (980–1015)	Volodymyr I's Fortress Wall in Kyiv	2006	22 May 2006
2 hryvni 118 x 63 mm			Orange	Yaroslav the Wise (c. 978 – 1054), Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kyiv Ruler of Kyiv Rus in (1019–1054)	The Saint Sophia's Cathedral in Kyiv	2004	24 September 2004
5 hryven' 118 x 63 mm			Blue	Bohdan Khmelnytsky (c. 1595 – 1657), Hetman of Ukraine	A church in the village of Subotiv		14 June 2004	Current
10 hryven' 124 x 66 mm			Crimson	Ivan Mazepa (1639 – 1709), Hetman of Ukraine	The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Perchersk Lavra		1 November 2004
10 hryven' 124 x 66 mm			Crimson	Ivan Mazepa (1639 – 1709), Hetman of Ukraine	The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Perchesk Lavra	2006	August 2006
20 hryven' 130 x 69 mm			Green	Ivan Franko (1856 – 1916), poet and writer	The Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet	2003	1 December 2003
50 hryven' 136 x 72 mm			Violet	Mykhailo Hrushevskyi (1866 – 1934), historian and politician.	The Tsentralna Rada building (currently, Teacher's House in Kyiv).	2004	29 March 2004
100 hryven' 142 x 75 mm			Olive	Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), poet and artist	The Chernecha Hill near Cherkasy and the figures of a kobzar with his guide boy.	2005	20 February 2006
200 hryven' 148 x 75 mm			Pink	Lesya Ukrainka (1871 – 1913), poet and writer	The Entrance Tower of Lutsk Castle.	2007	28 May 2007
500 hryven' 154 x 75 mm			Brown	Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722 – 1794), writer and composer	The Kyiv Mohyla Academy buildings.	2006	15 September 2006

Fourth series

Denomination and dimensions	Image		Main colour	Obverse	Reverse	First printing	Date of issue
20 hryven' 130 x 69 mm			Green	Ivan Franko (1856 – 1916), poet and writer	The Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet	2018	25 September 2018
50 hryven' 136 x 72 mm			Violet	Mykhailo Hrushevskyi (1866–1934), historian and politician.	The Tsentralna Rada building ("House of the Teacher" in Kyiv)	2019	20 December 2019
100 hryven' 142 x 75 mm			Olive	Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), poet and artist	Red University Building.	2004	9 March 2015
200 hryven' 148 x 75 mm			Blue and violet	Lesia Ukrainka (1871–1913), poet and writer	Entrance Tower to Lutsk Castle	2019	25 February 2020
500 hryven' 154 x 75 mm			Brown	Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722 - 1794), writer and composer	The Kyiv Mohyla Academy buildings.	2015	11 April 2016
1,000 hryven' 160 x 75 mm			Violet	Volodymyr Vernadskyi (1863 - 1945), historian, philosopher, naturalist and scientist	National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine	2019	25 October 2019