United Crypto States continues to merge silver and Bitcoin with its latest release celebrating ancient Ukrainian culture

The Mint XXI produced range of cryptocurrency-denominated silver coins, ‘United Crypto States’ (UCS), has added a new coin today, and to a subset that, we feel, is the best of them. Called ‘Cradle of Freedom’, it joins ‘The Wings of Freedom’, and a trio of ‘The Land of Freedom’ coins in celebrating the culture and resilience of Ukraine.

In the overall UCS range, the Freedom series are, with a solitary exception, the only ones to have the unique finish of a dark ruthenium plating mixed with gilded highlights. It’s a striking contrast that results in an attractive look, especially when combined with the extra levels of detail this series. Cradle is the third distinct design in this series, and to my eye at least, the finest to date.

It’s packed with symbolism, little nods to Ukraine’s history. The main foreground element is in the form of a stylised female protective guardian, paired with patterns of ceramic ornament and shoots of wheat. These pay respect to the old Trypillian culture that occupied the region from around 5,000 to 3,000 BCE. Cucuteni-Trypillia was renowned for its advanced pottery, including clay figurines, and for its settlements, that were huge for the time, maybe containing as many as 45,000 people. The settlements were unusual in that every 60–80 years, they were burned down and then rebuilt, as if they had their own cycle of life.

The obverse is one common to the series, with the rampant dragon and unicorn either side of a shield filled with a hologram sticker. Beneath this is the crypto denomination, in this case, Bitcoin. The value is small enough that removing the sticker should not be done. The coin comes nicely boxed, and with a COA. Overall, an attractive coin, and one that highlights facets of the regions history that even a history fan like me had little knowledge of. Available to order now, this one-ounce silver coin has a mintage of 2,000 pieces.