200 Zlotys Boleslaus III Wrymouth - Half Length Portrait, Trial Strike

Bolesław III Krzywousty — Wrymouth — died in 1138 leaving a catastrophically ill-conceived succession arrangement that fragmented Poland into competing principalities for nearly two centuries. The NBP's 1982 commemorative draws on a ruler whose reign marked both the height of early Piast consolidation and the beginning of its unraveling. Trial strikes for this series were produced in limited numbers for internal approval, making Pr470 a pre-production artifact rather than a circulated or even distributed piece. The .750 silver composition — lower fineness than many contemporary Polish collector issues — was a cost compromise reflecting hard currency constraints under late communist economic conditions.