Historical coins and banknotes of Poland
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The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth first issued złotych banknotes in 1794 under the authority of Tadeusz Kościuszko. The 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 złotych are depicted above. A 500 and 1,000 złotych were issued but are very rare.
This is a list of historical coins and banknotes of Poland.
Before the 20th century[edit]
| Unit (ZŁ) | Obverse | Reverse |
|---|---|---|
| Coins (Kingdom of Poland) | ||
| Banknotes (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) | ||
| 4 zł |  |
|
| Banknotes (Duchy of Warsaw) | ||
| Coins (1815-1850) | ||
| 2 zł | 
| |
| 5 zł | 
| |
| Banknotes (1850-1917) | ||
20th-century and interwar[edit]
| Unit (ZŁ) | Obverse | Reverse |
|---|---|---|
| Banknotes (1917-1924) | ||
| 1⁄2 mark |  |
|
| 10 marks |  |
|
| 50 marks |  |
|
| 100 marks |  |
|
| Banknotes (1924-1939) | ||
| 10 gr |  |
|
| 2 zł (1936) | .jpg) |
|
| 5 zł (1930) | .jpg) |
|
| 10 zł (1929) |  |
|
| 20 zł (1929) |  |
|
| 20 zł (1931) |  |
|
| 20 zł (1936) |  |
|
| 50 zł (1929) |  |
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| 50 zł (1936) |  |
|
| 100 zł (1934) |  |
|
| Banknotes (1939-1944) | ||
| 1 zł (1940) |  |
|
| 1 zł (1941) |  |
|
| 2 zł (1941) |  |
|
| 5 zł (1940) |  |
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| 5 zł (1941) |  |
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| 10 zł (1940) |  |
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| 20 zł (1940) |  |
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| 50 zł (1940) |  |
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| 50 zł (1941) |  |
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| 100 zł (1940) |  |
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| 100 zł (1941) |  |
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| 500 zł (1940) |  |
|
Coins[edit]
1924 - See Dziennik Ustaw 1924-045
Post-WWII[edit]
| Image | Unit (ZŁ) | Obverse | Reverse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banknotes (1945-1950) | |||
| [1] | 20 zł |  |
|
| [2] | 100 zł |  |
|
| [3] | 500 zł |  |
|
| [4] | 1000 zł |  |
|
1950-currency reform[edit]
Series of 1948[edit]
The banknotes of the series of 1948 were designed by Polish painter and decorative artist Wacław Borowski. The introduction of these notes was part of the currency reform of 1950,[1] so the banknotes had to be printed quickly and in secrecy; so printing works in Poland (PWPW), Czechoslovakia (STC), Hungary (Pénzjegynyomda), Sweden (Riksbankens Sedeltryckeri), and Canada (British American Bank Note Company Ltd.) were involved.
| Series of 1948 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Dimensions | Description | Date of | |||||
| Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | first printing | issue | withdrawal | lapse | ||
|
|
2 zł | 120 mm × 58 mm | Face value | The design of the (then) future NBP building at Warsaw Insurgents Square in Warsaw | 1 July 1948 | 30 October 1950 | 1 January 1960 | 30 June 1960 |
|
|
5 zł | 142 mm × 67 mm | Face value | Farmer plowing a field with a tractor | ||||
|
|
10 zł | 148 mm × 70 mm | Portrait of a peasant (inspired by Mateusz Jóźwiak, the creator of cast printing matrices at PWPW) | Peasants loading sheaves to a ladder wagon. | 31 December 1965 | 30 June 1966 | ||
|
|
20 zł | 160 mm × 76 mm | Portrait of a woman in kerchief (nicknamed "Anielka"; the portrait was supposedly inspired by Helena Michalik (née Bujak), who was a friend of Wacław Borowski)[2][3] | Kraków Cloth Hall | 30 June 1977 | 31 December 1977 | ||
|
|
50 zł | 164 mm × 78 mm | Portrait of a fisherman | Port of Gdynia | 30 June 1978 | 31 December 1978 | ||
|
|
100 zł | 172 mm × 82 mm | Portrait of a worker (a so-called "Pstrowski"; portrait inspired by Bronisław Tomaszewski, who was a driver at PWPW) | View of a factory with smoking chimneys (probably Łódź) | 30 June 1977 | 31 December 1977 | ||
|
|
500 zł | 178 mm × 85 mm | Portrait of a miner in helmet | Underground mining scene | 31 December 1977 | 30 June 1978 | ||
| These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table. | |||||||||
Series of 1974[edit]
| 1974 Series | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Dimensions | Colour | Obverse | Reverse | Printed | ||
 
|
10 zł | 139 x 63 mm | Bluish green | Józef Bem | Indication of value | 1982 | ||
 
|
20 zł | Multicoloured | Romuald Traugutt | Indication of value | 1982 | |||
 
|
50 zł | Green | Karol Świerczewski | Grunwald Cross Medal | 1975 | |||
| [5] | 100 zł | Red | Ludwik Waryński | "Proletaryat" (19th century Polish socialist party) | 1975 | |||
| [6] | 200 zł | Violet | Jarosław Dąbrowski | Monument to the Dead (of the Paris Commune) by Paul Moreau-Vauthier in the Père Lachaise Cemetery | 1976 | |||
 
|
500 zł | Brown | Tadeusz Kościuszko | "Żywią i Bronią" (They feed and defend), flag of Polish soldiers in Kraków during the Kościuszko Uprising | 1974 | |||
 
|
1000 zł | Blue | Nicolaus Copernicus | Heliocentric Solar System | 1975 | |||
| 2000 zł | Brown | Mieszko I | Bolesław I the Brave | 1977 | ||||
| [7] | 5000 zł | Green | Frédéric Chopin | Polonaise notes | 1982 | |||
| [8] | 10 000 zł | Green and violet | Stanisław Wyspiański | Kraków | 1988 | |||
| [9] | 20 000 zł | Orange | Maria Skłodowska-Curie | Nuclear reactor "Ewa" near Warsaw | 1989 | |||
| [10] | 50 000 zł | Brown | Stanisław Staszic | The Staszic Palace in Warsaw | 1989 | |||
| [11] | 100 000 zł | Blue | Stanisław Moniuszko | Teatr Wielki, Warsaw | 1990 | |||
| [12] | 200 000 zł | Brown | Coat of arms | Warsaw | 1989 | |||
| [13] | 500 000 zł | Blue and brown | Henryk Sienkiewicz | "Trilogy" | 1990 | |||
| [14] | 1 000 000 zł | Light brown | Władysław Reymont | Country landscape | 1991 | |||
| 2 000 000 zł | Multicoloured | Ignacy Jan Paderewski | The 1919 Coat of arms of Poland | 1992 | ||||
| These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes. | ||||||||
See also[edit]
References[edit]
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