THE COINAGE OF KYIVAN RUS

Oleg's descendant, Volodimir I, converted to Christianity ca. 988. He was later canonized as a saint by the Orthodox Church, and his portrait appears on the current Ukrainian one-hryvnia banknote. Volodimir introduced in Kyivan Rus many Byzantine practides, including the issue of precious metal coins bearing religious images. Modelled on the contemporary Byzantine solidus, the gold zlatnik, weighing about 4.2 grams, is extremely rare with only about a dozen examples known today. Since all known examples show evidence of circulation wear, they were intended to serve as money, not ceremonial presentation pieces. The obverse (‘heads’) depicts the crowned ruler, holding a sceptre, with the dynastic ‘trident’ emblem (trizhub) over his left shoulder. Volodimir's silver coin, known as the srebrennik, is scarce, with a few hundred examples of four distinct types known. Mostly struck…