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100 Zlotys German occupation
| Issuer | Bank emisyjny w Polsce (Bank of Issue in Poland) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1940 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The central vignette presents an intaglio portrait of Stanisław Drewno, a mint official, set within an unprinted reserve field. The design is framed by intricate guilloche patterns and denomination numerals at the corners. The overall composition follows the pre-war Bank Polski aesthetic, retaining its classical engraving style. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The central vignette, printed in brown on a fine guilloche underprint, presents an intaglio view of the Bank Polski building in Warsaw, constructed in 1928, with its distinctive neoclassical façade, arched colonnade, and domed rotunda. The denomination "STO ZŁOTYCH" appears in a cartouche at the top centre, flanked by the numeral "100" in ornate panels at all four corners. A rosette guilloche medallion is positioned at the lower centre beneath the architectural vignette. |
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| Comments |
The Bank emisyjny w Polsce was established by the German occupation authorities in April 1940 as a replacement for the Bank of Poland, which had evacuated its reserves and staff to Romania in 1939. The new institution was explicitly colonial in function — designed to extract resources from the General Government territory, not to serve a sovereign economy. This note was among the first series it issued.
Printing was carried out at the Polish State Printing Works in Warsaw, one of the few major industrial facilities the occupation administration kept running under German supervision. The irony of Polish craftsmen printing currency for an occupying power was not lost on contemporaries.
Circulation numbers were substantial — over twelve million printed — but wartime conditions, black market activity, and the eventual 1944–45 collapse of German control in Poland mean that heavily used and damaged survivors are the norm.