“Shag” instead of “kopeck”: is it time for changes?
2 September 2024 20:38
The National Bank of Ukraine initiates to change the name of change coins from “kopiika” to “shag” to restore historical justice, promote de-Russification and revive national traditions in Ukraine’s money circulation.
According to the NBU, the name of the kopiyka coin used in our country is now actually a symbol of Moscow’s occupation. Ukraine, on the other hand, has its own, specifically Ukrainian, word for small coins – the word “shag”. The procedure for introducing “shahs” into circulation, as well as the procedure and timing for withdrawing “kopiykas” from circulation, are currently unknown. They will be determined by the National Bank after a number of legislative changes are adopted.
As reported in an exclusive commentary [Kommersant]andriy Novak, PhD in Economics, Chairman of the Committee of Economists of Ukraine, said in an exclusive interview with "Komersant Ukrainian" that the change of coins will be gradual.
“This change will take place gradually, in accordance with the coin production plan. Because coins also have their own shelf life, of course, they last much longer than paper denominations, but there is still a certain replacement cycle among metal coins.
So, when the next replacement cycles take place, the new name “step” will be used. If the entire process is structured in this way, then it will not require additional costs,” Novak said.
At the same time, the National Bank reports that it does not plan to specifically withdraw kopiyka-denominated coins from circulation and exchange them for shahs due to the name change. The kopiyka and shag coins will be in circulation in parallel. Citizens will not need to take any additional steps to exchange kopiykas for shags.
It is known that the ratio between the kopiyka and the shag will be 1:1.
Where did the word “shag” come from?
From the time of the Hetmanate until the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921, a small coin called a shah was used on the territory of Ukraine.
As saidvladyslav Bezpalko, a senior researcher at the National Museum of History of Ukraine, said that in Cossack Ukraine, the name “shag” was widely used in the language of office work from the mid-17th century.
“The short and concise word ‘shag’ perfectly illustrates the ability of the colloquial language of that time to save linguistic means. That is why it quickly became a popular and basic name for counting small amounts of money, deeply rooted in the language and Ukrainian culture in general. And today we finally have the opportunity to revise the Soviet names and revive what was lost,” he said.
In turn, Yulia Shylenko, a postgraduate student at the National Academy of Culture and Arts, chief curator of the National Taras Shevchenko Museum in Kyiv, noted that experts at the National Taras Shevchenko Museum have studied the use of monetary units in the Great Kobzar’s works and found 11 instances of the words “shag” and “shashok” in his texts, which are used to mean an ancient coin, half a penny.
“This gives us an idea of the lexical composition of the Ukrainian language in the second half of the nineteenth century and confirms the existence of such a monetary unit in the commodity-money relations of that time,” she said.
But in the last century, on 1 March 1918, the Central Rada passed a law on the hryvnia as the currency of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, which provided for the issue of state credit notes in denominations of 2, 5, 10, 20, 100, 500 and 1000 hryvnias, as well as coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 20 and 50 shahs. However, coinage was not implemented due to economic and technical difficulties.
Instead, small-denomination money was issued – State Treasury change stamps of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 shahs. They had an inscription on the back: “Walks on a par with a ringing coin” and were in circulation until March 1919, when they were cancelled by the Soviet government.
Author – Aliona Kaplina
