2000 Zlotys Ladislaus I Herman

Władysław I Herman ruled Poland from 1079 to 1102, ascending after the exile of his brother Bolesław II — himself driven out following the murder of Bishop Stanisław of Kraków, later canonized as Poland's patron saint. The 1981 issue belongs to the NBP's Royal series, which Poland began producing in the 1970s partly as hard-currency earners during the period of Western credit dependency. That economic context gives the series an ironic edge: gold coins celebrating medieval Polish sovereignty were being sold abroad precisely because the state needed foreign exchange it couldn't otherwise generate.