The Ukrainian currency is called the hryvnia. Eight hryvnia roughly equals one U.S. dollar so this first one hryvnia bill has a value of about 12.5 cents in dollars. The bills are very colorful and detailed and so I've scanned a copy of each of the bills front and back for you all to take a look at.
In Ukraine, as in most of Eastern Europe, when you pay at a store you never hand the bills directly to the cashier as it is bad luck. Everything is first placed on a small plate and then the cashier takes it. Your change and the receipt are also then placed back on the plate for you to take. Although we've never been yelled at for paying with too large a bill [Laura reports this was common in Russia] they do always want you to pay with the exact change if you have it.
There is also a 500 hryvnia bill [rough dollar value of $62.50] that I haven't seen in person yet. ATMs have been giving us 200 or 50 hryvnia bills and 500 hasn't been an option we have seen.
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Interesting. My favorite is the guy in the 100 hryvnia bill. Wiki says he's Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko a 19th century poet and artist. Cool!
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