On December 10th, 2015, the National Bank of Ukraine put the commemorative coin "The Year of the Monkey" into circulation.

Commemorative coin “The Year of the Monkey” represents a continuation of the Chinese Calendar series.

According to the legend, in ancient times, 12 animals were given an opportunity to take it in turns to be at the helm of one year, becoming the symbols of this period. In 2016, it is Monkey's turn to take the helm. Therefore, ahead of the New Year celebrations, the National Bank of Ukraine releases the silver commemorative coin “The Year of the Monkey” devoted to the symbol of the upcoming year according to the Chinese Calendar.

The Chinese Calendar series was launched in 2006. It comprises nine coins: “The Year of the Dog”, “The Year of the Pig”, “The Year of the Rat”, “The Year of the Ox”, “The Year of the Tiger”, “The Year of the Cat (Rabbit, Hare)”, “The year of the Dragon”, “The Year of the Snake”, “The Year of the Horse” and "The Year of the Goat"

All the coins from this series enjoy great popularity among the public because of their attractive artistic design – a conventionalized image of animals and a floral ornament, as well as the use of various stones as decoration elements.

Commemorative coin “The Year of the Monkey" of 5 hryvnia face value was made from 925-fine silver, weight in fineness – 15.55 g; the decoration element – yellow zirconium oxide; quality − “proof”.

Mintage of the coin is 20,000 pieces.

The coin was designed by Anatolii Demianenko, Olexander Kharuk, Sergii Kharuk, Svyatoslav Ivanenko and Volodymyr Taran.

The commemorative coin is available for sale at the regional branches of the National Bank of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine’s distributors selling commemorative coins.

The commemorative coin “The Year of the Monkey" of 5 hryvnia face value is a legal tender of Ukraine and shall be accepted without any restrictions at its face value for all types of payments as well as for placing to the settlement accounts, on deposits, for letters of credit and transfers.

Source of information: National Bank of Ukraine www.bank.gov.ua