Ukraine 1996 5 pc set of very rare plastic payment money tokens of Chernihiv factory Siveryanka.
Used during 1996-1998 for partial payment of wages and for paying in the factory store and dining room within the factory.
Tokens were manufactured at the production facilities of the factory itself.
The picture serves as a reference for coin condition. The coin you will receive will be in a similar condition.
They were made at the Chernigov garment factory "Siveryanka" in the 90s of the last century. There they performed the functions of money: they were given wages, they could buy goods and services. And then those plastic coins were sent to be melted down and turned into banal buttons ...
But, fortunately, not all.
First, a little digression into history. In the city of Chernihiv there was a factory of rubber products founded in 1969, which, by order of the USSR Ministry of Defense, produced special clothing - capes and raincoats of chemical protection. In 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the factory became the property of its team and transformed into a public joint-stock company "Production and trading company" Siverianka ". Like many businesses of the time, it was struggling with cash. So they decided to make plastic coins on the equipment available at the factory for the production of plastic buttons and fasteners. With them, the employees of the enterprise received part of the salary and paid for goods in three shops and two cafes located on the territory of the factory.
They say that in the city market these plastic coins were also in circulation. But times have changed... There was no need to use such money. Limited Liability Company "Siverteks" (modern, since June 2014, the name of the factory) has become one of the leading light and chemical industry enterprises in Ukraine. Main a mass of plastic coins was collected (two bags, according to eyewitnesses) and sent to the newly formed workshop for casting plastic and rubber products for remelting in toggle buttons for tents. But the then factory workers managed to save a small amount of these coins and save them in the attics and closets of their houses. And over time, these wonderful coins fell into the reliable hands of experts in their field. And the second life of these - now quite rare - specimens in the collections of numismatists began.
So, plastic coins were made at Siveryanka in 1996–1997 The coin line consisted of four denominations: 1 kopeck, 5 kopecks, 10 kopecks and 1 hryvnia. Coins in denominations of 1 kopeck (Fig. 1) and 5 kopecks (Fig. 2) were cast in dark beige and dark olive, respectively. Varieties are known according to the colors of coins with a face value of 10 kopecks (Fig. 3): green-blue, dark blue and dark blue and 1 hryvnia (Fig. 4): orange and brown. One hryvnia coins of brown color, made in insignificant amount were issued at the final stage of their circulation. They circulated in turnover for a short time and therefore occur very infrequently.
The denomination and name of the monetary unit are indicated on the reverse of the coin. The obverse depicts the company's logo - a silhouette (in profile) of a woman's head, placed on a roll of fabric wound in a spiral. Below, in a circle, the name of the enterprise is applied - "Siveryanka". All inscriptions are made in Ukrainian. Specifications of coins different denominations are the same: diameter - 20 mm, weight - 0.50–0.65 g, edge - smooth, edge thickness - 2 mm. The quality of these products, although it was quite high, is still not was stable. Note that there was only one requirement for them - originality, which would exclude the possibility of uncontrolled casting, copying and reproduction of coins by "counterfeiters". That is why these days are especially valued and most in demand plastic coins "Siveryanka" of collectible quality.
Information (unfortunately, incomplete) about the coins of the production and trading company "Siverianka" can be found in the third volume of the capital work of P.F. Ryabchenko "The Complete Catalog of Paper Banknotes and Bonds of Russia, the USSR, the CIS Countries (1769–2003)" ( Kyiv, Vipol, 2005), section "Additions and corrections to v. 2 "Bons of Ukraine"" (Kyiv, Logos, 1999), catalog numbers 11026-1 - 11026-5.
It would not be superfluous to note that the issue of coins at the factory was preceded by the issue of coupons in karbovants denomination. Today they are rightfully included in the circle of interests of the bonists.
In conclusion, it should be recognized that, in fact, this article describes representatives of private money (the so-called "private traders"), issued by a private business entity and used by it as a means of payment. Unlike those that have become so "fashionable" in recent times bitcoins and other virtual cryptocurrencies, it was real money. As you know, fashion is changeable. While love for real money, including as an object of collecting, is enduring.