Grivna in the context of Old East Slavic language

Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from the Anglo-Norman term for a melting-house where metal was refined, and earlier from French bouillon, "boiling". Although precious metal bullion is no longer used to make coins for general circulation, it continues to be held as an investment with a reputation for stability in periods of economic uncertainty. To assess the purity of gold bullion, the centuries-old technique of fire assay is still employed, together with modern spectroscopic instrumentation, to accurately determine its quality.

Bullion is sometimes contrasted with specie, the latter being coin made of bullion (or synonymously, bullion coin). Thus understood, bullion refers to precious metal kept in forms other than coin, namely bars, ingots, or plates, including regional and historical variants such as grivnas in Eastern Europe or sycees in China.

The ruble or rouble (/ˈruːbəl/; Russian: рубль, IPA: [rublʲ]) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ruble in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are subdivided into one hundred kopeks. No kopek is currently formally subdivided, although denga (½ kopek) and polushka (½ denga, thus ¼ kopek) were minted until the 19th century. Additionally, the Transnistrian ruble is used in Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway province of Moldova.

Historically, the grivna, ruble and denga were used in Russia as measurements of weight. In 1704, as a result of monetary reforms by Peter the Great, the imperial ruble of the Russian Empire became the first decimal currency. The silver ruble was used until 1897 and the gold ruble was used until 1917. The Soviet ruble officially replaced the imperial ruble in 1922 and continued to be used until 1993, when it was formally replaced with the Russian ruble in the Russian Federation and by other currencies in other post-Soviet states. In the past, several other countries influenced by the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union had currency units that were also named ruble, including the Latvian ruble, Tajikistani ruble and Transcaucasian ruble (later Armenian ruble, Azerbaijani ruble, Georgian ruble).

The hryvnia (/(hə)ˈrɪvniə/ (hə-)RIV-nee-ə; Ukrainian: гривня [ˈɦrɪu̯nʲɐ] , abbr. грн hrn; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 kopiykas (Ukrainian: копійка). It is named after a measure of weight used in Kievan Rus'.