20 Zlotych

This note belongs to the first postwar zloty series issued by Narodowy Bank Polski following the near-total collapse of the occupation currency system. The communist provisional government needed a functioning banknote series quickly, and domestic printing capacity in Warsaw had been severely disrupted — the city was still largely rubble in 1945 and early 1946. That the notes were printed in Warsaw at all reflects the political priority of demonstrating state functionality on Polish soil rather than contracting abroad.

The 1946 zloty series was short-lived. A currency reform in October 1950 replaced it at a punishing 100:3 exchange rate, wiping out savings and effectively retiring these notes from circulation within four years of issue.