100 Zlotys Henryk Wieniawski

Wieniawski died in Moscow in 1880 at thirty-nine, his health destroyed by years of relentless touring despite a heart condition his doctors had warned him about repeatedly. Poland has issued coins honoring him across multiple decades, partly because he remains one of the few Polish composers whose international reputation — built largely in Brussels and St. Petersburg — rivals Chopin's in the violin repertoire. The 1979 issue appeared under the Polish People's Republic, when the state-run Mennica Polska regularly used the commemorative series to project cultural prestige abroad while hard currency remained scarce domestically.