Poland's communist government had an uneasy relationship with the Catholic Church throughout the 1980s, yet the National Bank of Poland produced a series of papal issues that were essentially hard-currency earners aimed at Western collectors rather than domestic circulation. This piece is a trial strike — a proof of concept submitted for approval that never advanced to an authorized mintage — making it a mint artifact rather than a coin in any commercial sense.
Fischer's Polish pattern catalog documents it under Po#P366, confirming its status outside the regular program. Survivors are overwhelmingly cabinet pieces from mint or state archives.
Poland's communist government had an uneasy relationship with the Catholic Church throughout the 1980s, yet the National Bank of Poland produced a series of papal issues that were essentially hard-currency earners aimed at Western collectors rather than domestic circulation. This piece is a trial strike — a proof of concept submitted for approval that never advanced to an authorized mintage — making it a mint artifact rather than a coin in any commercial sense.
Fischer's Polish pattern catalog documents it under Po#P366, confirming its status outside the regular program. Survivors are overwhelmingly cabinet pieces from mint or state archives.