1 Zloty Ears, Trial Strike Ni

Poland's postwar coinage was in constant flux during the late 1950s as the communist government experimented with alloys and designs before committing to production runs. This 1958 trial strike in nickel — the "Ears" type, referring to the wheat ears motif — was never approved for circulation; the issued 1-zloty pieces of this period used aluminum instead, reflecting both material economy and Soviet-bloc manufacturing priorities. Trial pieces in nickel from this program surface rarely, most having remained in state archives or official collections before dispersal.