100 Zlotys Environment Protection - Capercaillie, Trial Strike

Poland's Environment Protection series, launched in the late 1970s, was among the first sustained thematic coin programs in the Eastern Bloc to address ecological subjects — a politically cautious nod to conservation at a moment when Solidarity-era tensions were beginning to surface. Trial strikes from this series were produced by Mennica Polska for submission and approval purposes and were never released for general circulation, which explains their survival in substantially better condition than the issued versions.

The capercaillie had declined sharply in Polish forests by mid-century due to logging pressure in the Carpathians and Białowieża region. Its appearance on a trial piece from 1980 carries that specific urgency.