100 Zlotys Polish Millennium

Issued to mark the millennium of the Polish state — dated from the baptism of Mieszko I in 966 AD — this coin arrived during a politically charged dispute between the communist government and the Catholic Church over who owned the anniversary. The regime insisted on a secular "millennium of the Polish state"; the Church celebrated a "millennium of Christianity in Poland." Both sides issued competing commemorative programs, and the coin falls squarely on the state's side of that argument.

Mintage was tightly controlled, and pieces were largely sold to foreign collectors for hard currency rather than circulated domestically.