Catalog
5 Zlotych
| Issuer | Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a bust portrait of Prince Józef Poniatowski in military uniform, set within a circular guilloche frame to the right. To the left, a large ornate numeral '5' underprint in gold and red. The centre field carries an intricate floral guilloche underprint with the denomination 'PIĘĆ ZŁOTYCH' in bold letterpress above the text 'Dyrekcja Banku Polskiego' and two manuscript signatures. The bank title 'BANK POLSKI' appears in a panel at top centre, with corner numerals '5' in blue, and the date and place of issue 'WARSZAWA dn. 28 Lut. 1919 r.' in a cartouche at the lower centre. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Bank Polski's postwar reconstruction issues were printed in Paris because Poland had no functioning security printing infrastructure of its own in 1919 — the country had spent 123 years partitioned between three empires, none of which had reason to build Polish monetary institutions. The Banque de France facility filled that gap, and its involvement gave these early Zlotych notes a production quality that the nascent Polish state could not yet achieve domestically.
The series was authorized under difficult circumstances, with the Polish mark and Zloty coexisting chaotically during the transition period. P#53 belongs to a brief window before hyperinflationary pressures made low denominations essentially worthless in daily use.