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20 Zlotys Presidential Plane Crash in Smolensk
| Issuer | Narodowy Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 2011 |
| Type | Non-circulating coin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a starkly symbolic composition depicting the silhouette of a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft rendered in polished relief, shown in a descending diagonal trajectory across the field, evoking the moment of the fatal crash. Bare-branched birch trees in frosted high relief fill the background, their skeletal forms emerging from a deeply mirrored field that suggests fog and the forest floor near Smolensk. The overall design employs a sophisticated interplay of matte and mirror finishes to convey both the landscape and the tragedy. The inscription 'SMOLEŃSK' appears along the lower edge, with the date '10.04.2010' inscribed to the lower left. The composition is austere and modernist in treatment, consistent with the commemorative gravity of the subject. |
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| Mint | Mint of Poland (Mennica Polska), Warsaw, Poland (1766-date) |
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| Additional information |
Issued to commemorate the April 2010 Tu-154 crash near Smolensk, Russia, which killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria, and 94 others — among them the chief of the general staff, the president of the National Bank of Poland, and much of the senior military and civilian leadership traveling to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. The political weight of that destination was not lost on Poles: Katyn, where Soviet NKVD forces executed roughly 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals in 1940, had been a source of bilateral tension for decades.
NBP issued this coin as part of a broader commemorative program released on the first anniversary of the crash.