Catalog
1 000 000 Zlotych
| Issuer | Narodowy Bank Polski (National Bank of Poland) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1991 |
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| Currency | Third Zloty (1949-1994) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA MILION ZŁOTYCH WARSZAWA, 15 LUTEGO 1991r. PREZES NARODOWEGO BANKU POLSKIEGO GŁÓWNY SKARBNIK NARODOWEGO BANKU POLSKIEGO WŁADYSŁAW REYMONT (Translation: REPUBLIC OF POLAND ONE MILLION ZLOTYCH WARSAW, 15 FEBRUARY 1991 PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL BANK OF POLAND CHIEF TREASURER OF THE NATIONAL BANK OF POLAND WŁADYSŁAW REYMONT) |
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| Protection description | the NBP monogram visible in the paper; embedded security thread running vertically through the note. |
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| Comments |
By 1991, Polish inflation had been running so destructively that the złoty required denominations unthinkable a decade earlier. This million-złoty note was not a novelty — it was a working banknote, used for ordinary transactions. The hyperinflationary spiral that produced it stemmed directly from the late communist government's practice of subsidizing failing state enterprises through money creation, a habit the Balcerowicz reforms of 1990 were designed to break but could not immediately undo in the circulating money supply.
Poland's redenomination in 1995 converted 10,000 old złotych to 1 new złoty, rendering this note equivalent to 10 groszy — one tenth of a new złoty coin.