Ukrainian shah

The same origin is shared with other Ukrainian words like sazhen' (сажень < Old East Slavic: сѧжєнь — “fathom”) and siahaty (сягати — “to touch”; “to reach”).

[1][2] The modern form of the word evolved through assimilation in the diminutive siazhok (сяжок), that had changed to shazhok (шажок), from which shah emerged.

[4] These shahivky were printed on perforated 11 ½ card stock, due to a shortage of metals needed for the war effort at the time.

In 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union after which the newly independent Ukraine was able to choose its own currency, trial runs of coins of 1 shah and 50 shahiv were issued, but were not approved.

On 2 September 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine proposed to rename the kopiyka to the historical shah as a part of the derussification campaign.