10 Zlotys 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Saint John Paul II

John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyła on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice — a detail the Polish state has marked with near-ritual regularity in commemorative coinage since his 1978 election. This centenary issue arrives forty years after his first papal visit to communist Poland, a trip the government attempted to minimize logistically and that instead drew crowds estimated in the millions, fundamentally destabilizing the political calculus that allowed the regime to function.

The National Bank of Poland has issued multiple denominations for this anniversary, with the accompanying gold 200-złoty piece carrying a substantially higher mintage ceiling.