100 Zlotys Environment Protection - Capercaillie, Trial Strike

Poland's Environment Protection series, launched in the late 1970s, was among the earliest nationally coordinated coin programs in the Eastern Bloc to treat ecological preservation as a subject worthy of commemorative status. The capercaillie — a large forest grouse facing serious population pressure in Poland at the time — was selected as one of the series subjects alongside other threatened fauna. Trial strikes like this piece were produced in alternative compositions as part of the approval and documentation process at the Warsaw Mint, and were never released for general circulation. Very few examples were preserved outside official archives.