The National Museum of the History of Ukraine invites visitors to the exhibition «Treasures of Ukraine. Symbols of Statehood», held in celebration of Ukraine’s Independence Day. The exhibition features unique artefacts from the Kyivan Rus period: coins from the museum’s collection, as well as a recent sensational discovery – a hoard of early 11th-century coins found near the village of Horodnytsia in Zhytomyr region in 2020. These numismatic finds are of great significance for Ukraine, as they are among the first to bear the trident – the emblem of the Ukrainian state. The minting of one’s own coins has long been a key symbol of sovereignty.

Coins from the late 10th–early 11th centuries preserve in metal the memory of a period of greatest prosperity of the Kyivan Rus, the transition from paganism to Christianity, the consolidation of princely power, and the establishment of closer political and economic ties with neighbouring countries. These miniature artefacts depict the prince, his emblem – the trident (which centuries later became the symbol of independent Ukraine) – and inscriptions written in the script of the time.

The exhibition provides an opportunity to see rare gold (zlatnyk) and silver (sribnyk) coins of Volodymyr Sviatoslavych from the museum’s collection. In particular, the NMHU collection of sribnyks is the largest and most comprehensive in Ukraine.

For the first time, numismatic items from the coin hoard discovered in August 2020 near Horodnytsia, Novohrad-Volynskyi district, Zhytomyr region, by local resident Serhii Komar (who now serves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Third Separate Assault Brigade) are presented to the public. A team of researchers led by Candidate of Historical Sciences Andrii Petrauskas documented the find on site, providing archaeological verification that significantly increased its scholarly value. The hoard consists of 35 coins and two fragments, minted during the reigns of Volodymyr Sviatoslavych (972–1015), Sviatopolk the Accursed (1015–1019), the Ruthenian prince Petor (likely the Christian name of Sviatopolk), and coins depicting the Apostle Peter.

Project partners: Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, Zhytomyr Regional Museum of Local History.

Admission follows the general museum ticket price: 150 UAH; 80 UAH for school pupils, students, and pensioners.

The exhibition is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00; the ticket office operates until 17:00.