Historical coins and banknotes of Poland

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POL-A1a-Bilet Skarbowy-5 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
POL-A2a-Bilet Skarbowy-10 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
POL-A3a-Bilet Skarbowy-25 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
POL-A4-Bilet Skarbowy-50 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
POL-A5-Bilet Skarbowy-100 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
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 .

Contents

Before the 20th century

Tymf - zlotowka 1663 Tymf - zlotowka 1663.jpg
Tymf - złotówka 1663
Polish coins and banknotes
Unit  (ZŁ)ObverseReverse
Coins (Kingdom of Poland)
Banknotes (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth)
4 zł 4 zlote polskie 1794 awers.jpg 4 zlote polskie 1794 rewers.jpg
Banknotes (Duchy of Warsaw)
Coins (1815-1850)
2 zł Krolestwo Polskie- Mikolaj I 30 kopiejek 2 zlote 1836.JPG
5 zł Krolestwo Polskie- Mikolaj I 34rubla 5 zlotych 1837.JPG
Banknotes (1850-1917)

20th-century and interwar

Polish coins and banknotes
Unit  (ZŁ)ObverseReverse
Banknotes (1917-1924)
12 mark 0.5 marki polskiej 1916 general awers.jpg 0.5 marki polskiej 1916 general rewers.jpg
10 marks 10 marek polskich 1916 awers.jpg 10 marek polskich 1916 rewers.jpg
50 marks 50 marek polskich 1916 awers.jpg 50 marek polskich 1916 rewers.jpg
100 marks 100 marek polskich 1916 jeneral awers.jpg 100 marek polskich 1916 jeneral rewers.jpg
Banknotes (1924-1939)
10 gr Bilet zdawkowy 10 groszy 1924 awers.jpg Bilet zdawkowy 10 groszy 1924 rewers.jpg
2 zł (1936) 1936.jpg 2 zlote banknote of Poland, 1936.jpg
5 zł (1930) 5 zlotych banknote, averse (Poland, 1930).jpg 5 zlotych 1930 r. REWERS.jpg
10 zł (1929) 10 zlotych 1929 r. AWERS.jpg 10 zlotych 1929 r. REWERS.jpg
20 zł (1929) 20 zlotych 1929 awers.jpg 20 zlotych 1929 rewers.jpg
20 zł (1931) 20 zlotych 1931 awers.jpg 20 zlotych 1931 rewers.jpg
20 zł (1936) 20 zlotych 1936 r. AWERS.jpg 20 zlotych 1936 r. REWERS.jpg
50 zł (1929) 50 zlotych 1929 r. AWERS.jpg 50 zlotych 1929 r. REWERS.jpg
50 zł (1936) 50 zlotych 1936 Jan Henryk Dabrowski awers.jpg 50 zlotych 1936 Jan Henryk Dabrowski rewers.jpg
100 zł (1934) 100 zlotych 1934 r. AWERS.jpg 100 zlotych 1934 r. REWERS.jpg
Banknotes (1939-1944)
1 zł (1940) 1 zl 1940 awers v2.JPG 1 zl 1940 rewers v2.JPG
1 zł (1941) 1zlotyGGawers.jpg Rewersbanknotu1zlotyGG.jpg
2 zł (1941) 2zloteawers.jpg 2zloterewersGG.jpg
5 zł (1940) 5 zl 1940 awers.JPG
5 zł (1941) Banknot5zlotychGGawers.jpg 5zlotych1.jpg
10 zł (1940) Banknot10zlotychawersGG.jpg Rewers10zlotych1GG.jpg
20 zł (1940) 20 zl 1940 awers.jpg 20zlotychrewersGG.jpg
50 zł (1940) 50 zl 1940 awers.jpg 50 zlotych 1940 rewers.jpg
50 zł (1941) Awers50zlotychGG.jpg Rewers50zlotychGG.jpg
100 zł (1940) Awers100zlotych1GG.jpg Rewers100zlotych1GG.jpg
100 zł (1941) Awers100zlotychGG.jpg Rewers100zlGG.jpg
500 zł (1940) 500 zl 1940 awers.jpg Goral1.jpg

Coins

1924 - See Dziennik Ustaw 1924-045

Post-WWII

Polish coins and banknotes
Image Unit  (ZŁ)ObverseReverse
Banknotes (1945-1950)
20 zł 20 zlotych 1947 awers.jpg 20 zlotych 1947 rewers.jpg
100 zł 100 zlotych 1947 awers.jpg 100 zlotych 1947 rewers.jpg
500 zł 500 zlotych 1947 awers.jpg 500 zlotych 1947 rewers.jpg
1000 zł 1000 zlotych 1947 awers.jpg 1000 zlotych 1947 rewers.jpg

1950-currency reform

Series of 1948

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
ImageValueDimensionsDescriptionDate of
ObverseReverseObverseReversefirst printingissuewithdrawallapse
2 zlote 1948 awers.jpg 2 zlote 1948 rewers.jpg 2 zł120 mm × 58 mmFace valueThe design of the (then) future NBP building at Warsaw Insurgents Square in Warsaw1 July 194830 October 19501 January 196030 June 1960
5 zlotych 1948 awers.jpg 5 zlotych 1948 rewers.jpg 5 zł142 mm × 67 mmFace valueFarmer plowing a field with a tractor
10 zlotych 1948 awers.jpg 10 zlotych 1948 rewers.jpg 10 zł148 mm × 70 mmPortrait of a peasant (inspired by Mateusz Jóźwiak, the creator of cast printing matrices at PWPW)Peasants loading sheaves to a ladder wagon.31 December 196530 June 1966
20 zlotych 1948 awers.jpg 20 zlotych 1948 rewers.jpg 20 zł160 mm × 76 mmPortrait 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 197731 December 1977
50 zlotych 1948 awers.jpg 50 zlotych 1948 rewers.jpg 50 zł164 mm × 78 mmPortrait of a fisherman Port of Gdynia 30 June 197831 December 1978
100 zlotych 1948 awers.jpg 100 zlotych 1948 rewers.jpg 100 zł172 mm × 82 mmPortrait 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 197731 December 1977
500 zlotych 1948 awers.jpg 500 zlotych 1948 rewers.jpg 500 zł178 mm × 85 mmPortrait of a miner in helmetUnderground mining scene31 December 197730 June 1978
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre (18 pixel per inch). For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Series of 1974

The National Bank of Poland began to introduce banknotes with the faces of "Great Poles" and the series was first introduced on 16 December 1974 with the 500 Zloty note. As economical situations worsened, by the 1980s higher and higher denominations worsened and in 1989, the 20000 was adopted which was equvialent to half of a wage of that time(65,000 Zloty). By the end of 1989, a commemorative note was released into circulation, the 200,000 Zloty banknote which is rather a numismatical product(which still has a huge price tag even today) than an actual banknote meant for everyday payments/transactions. In 1990, as wages were regulated to the actual value of the currency, new higher denonimation notes were released such as the 500,000 Zloty note which was worth 50 Dollars and then it was devalued to 30 dollars when a new exchange rate was finalized to prevent hyperinflation. At the end of 1993, new reworked editions of banknotes(50.000,100.000,500.000,1.000.000 and 2.000.000 Zloty) were released which also erased the old Polish People's Republic name from the 50.000 and 100.000 Zloty banknotes in circulation. In 1994 they stopped printing old Zloty notes to later establish the Fourth Zloty by 1st January 1995. All of the banknotes together were withdrawn on 31st December 1996 and were no longer exchanged by 2010.

1974 Series
ImageValueDimensionsColourObverseReversePrintedWithdrawn
10zl old..png
Reverse10zl old..png
10 zł139 x 63 mmBluish green Józef Bem Indication of value198231 December 1996

20 złMulticoloured Romuald Traugutt Indication of value1982

50 złGreen Karol Świerczewski Grunwald Cross Medal 1975,1979,1982, 1986,1988
100 złRed Ludwik Waryński "Proletaryat" (19th century Polish socialist party)1975,1976, 1979,1982,1986,1988
200 złViolet Jarosław Dąbrowski Monument to the Dead (of the Paris Commune) by Paul Moreau-Vauthier in the Père Lachaise Cemetery 1976, 1979,1986,1988

500 złBrown Tadeusz Kościuszko "Żywią i Bronią" (They feed and defend), flag of Polish soldiers in Kraków during the Kościuszko Uprising 1974,1976,1979,1982

1000 złBlue Nicolaus Copernicus Heliocentric Solar System 1975,1979,1982

2000 złBrown Mieszko I Bolesław I the Brave 1977,1979,1982
5000 złGreen Frédéric Chopin Polonaise notes1982,1986, 1988
10 000 złGreen and violet Stanisław Wyspiański Kraków 1987,1988
20 000 złOrange Maria Skłodowska-Curie Nuclear reactor "Ewa" near Warsaw 1989
50 000 złBrown Stanisław Staszic The Staszic Palace in Warsaw 1989,1993
100 000 złBlue Stanisław Moniuszko Teatr Wielki, Warsaw 1990,1993
200 000 złBrown Coat of arms Warsaw 1989
500 000 złBlue and brown Henryk Sienkiewicz "Trilogy"1990,1993
1 000 000 złLight brown Władysław Reymont Country landscape1991,1993
2 000 000 złMulticoloured Ignacy Jan Paderewski The 1919 Coat of arms of Poland 1992,1993
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter, a standard for world banknotes.

A lot of these banknotes that circulated from 1974 to 1988 were printed in several years.

See also

References