Coin Ukraine 2024 #05 Chornobyl. Revival. The Black Stork

Description

Chornobyl. Revival. The Black Stork

This coin celebrates a rare bird that has become a symbol of the revival of life in the Chornobyl zone – the black stork. The 30-kilometer exclusion zone and the zone of mandatory resettlement, which was designated the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve on 26 April 2016, is now a special kind of breeding reserve not only for common species of animals and plants, but also for endangered ones, including the black stork. Thanks to environmental protection in the Chornobyl zone, the number of the birds is growing. This indicates the restoration of the region’s ecosystem, and that the reserve is becoming a center of biodiversity even in the face of radiation contamination.

Obverse: above is Ukraine’s small coat of arms, under which is the legend УКРАЇНА (Ukraine); to the right of the coat of arms is the coin’s face value 5/ГРИВЕНЬ (5/hryvnias); in the center is a symbolic wheel of life that marks the rebirth of nature: a stylized international radioactive sign shrouded in leaves and surrounded by animals that are increasing their populations in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone, which has become a kind of breeding reserve for black storks, Przewalski’s horses, lynxes, bisons, moose, and brown bears; there is a circular legend against a smooth background, reading: ЧОРНОБИЛЬСЬКИЙ РАДІАЦІЙНО-ЕКОЛОГІЧНИЙ БІОСФЕРНИЙ ЗАПОВІДНИК (Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve) (to the left) CHORNOBYL RADIATION AND ECOLOGICAL BIOSPHERE RESERVE; below is the coin’s issue year – 2024; above is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: against an outline of a landscape scene is a black stork (pad printed). Above, to the left is a legend against a smooth background: ЛЕЛЕКА / ЧОРНИЙ (black stork) / CICONIA NIGRA; above are black stork chicks in a nest.