Issued fifty years after the siege, this trial strike commemorates the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade's defense of Tobruk — one of the more quietly remarkable episodes of the North African campaign, in which roughly 5,000 Polish soldiers held the garrison alongside Australian, British, and Czech forces from April through August 1941. The Poles had reached Libya via a circuitous route through Romania, Hungary, Syria, and Egypt after the 1939 collapse.
Trial strikes from Mennica Polska of this period were produced in limited quantities for approval purposes and rarely entered general circulation. The nickel composition distinguishes it from the silver business strikes in the commemorative series.
Issued fifty years after the siege, this trial strike commemorates the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade's defense of Tobruk — one of the more quietly remarkable episodes of the North African campaign, in which roughly 5,000 Polish soldiers held the garrison alongside Australian, British, and Czech forces from April through August 1941. The Poles had reached Libya via a circuitous route through Romania, Hungary, Syria, and Egypt after the 1939 collapse.
Trial strikes from Mennica Polska of this period were produced in limited quantities for approval purposes and rarely entered general circulation. The nickel composition distinguishes it from the silver business strikes in the commemorative series.