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 Zlotys People's Republic, Trial Strike
| Issuer | Narodowy Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1974 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Zlotys (20 Złotych) (20 PLZ) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | 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 | The obverse features the Polish state eagle — the crowned White Eagle of Poland — centrally positioned in the field, rendered in the socialist-era heraldic style without the crown. Surrounding the eagle, the circular legend reads POLSKA . RZECZPOSPOLITA . LUDOWA, denoting the Polish People's Republic. The denomination 20 ZŁ appears in the lower portion of the field. The dates 1944 and 1974 flank the Roman numeral XXX, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the People's Republic, with the Warsaw Mint mark MW visible in the lower field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse displays a bold sculptural composition in high relief depicting three male figures in profile facing right — a soldier wearing a steel helmet, a miner in a hard hat, and a civilian worker — symbolising the military, industrial, and labour forces of socialist Poland. Above the figures, a geometric angular motif suggestive of industrial architecture frames the scene. The inscription XXX LAT PRL arcs across the upper right field, while the commemorative dates 1944 and 1974 are inscribed in the lower portion. The word PRÓBA (trial/pattern) appears to the left, identifying this as a proof strike, and the engraver's initials K W are present in the lower field. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Poland's 1974 coinage program coincided with the Gierek government's aggressive borrowing from Western creditors — a policy that briefly flooded the domestic economy with consumer goods before collapsing into the debt crisis of the late 1970s. Trial strikes from this period were produced by the Warsaw Mint as internal approval pieces, circulated among monetary authorities before production authorization, and were never released to the public. Most survived only because mint employees or officials retained them informally.
The Fischer and ParM references both log this piece, with minor classification differences suggesting at least two distinct archival sources for known examples.