Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Zlotych
| Issuer | Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1936 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central vignette presents an engraved panoramic view of Wawel Castle in Kraków, flanked by two standing allegorical figures: at left, a male figure holding architectural instruments, symbolising industry or science; at right, a draped female figure resting on a globe and scroll, symbolising the arts or learning. The denomination DWADZIEŚCIA ZŁOTYCH appears in bold letterpress at the top, while the lower centre carries the legal tender inscription within a cartouche bearing the Bank Polski monogram, with the numeral 20 repeated at lower left and right within guilloche ovals. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The 1936 series was Bank Polski's last prewar overhaul before the German invasion rendered the entire currency infrastructure irrelevant. Borowski's designs for this series were widely regarded as among the more accomplished Polish banknote work of the interwar period, and Vacek's intaglio engraving gave the series a crispness that offset printing couldn't achieve. PWPW had been producing security documents since 1919, and by 1936 had genuine technical confidence.
A print run just over 12 million is not especially large for a mid-denomination note intended for broad circulation. Notes that survived September 1939 often circulated under occupation anyway — the Germans initially permitted continued use of zloty-denominated notes through the Bank Emisyjny w Polsce from 1940.