Issued to mark the fourth anniversary of the March Constitution of 1921 — Poland's first democratic constitution following the restoration of independence after 123 years of partition — this coin was authorized under the government of Władysław Grabski, the same finance minister whose currency reform had only just stabilized the złoty after catastrophic post-war inflation. The timing was deliberate: Grabski needed the constitution to mean something in hard currency as well as on paper.
Less than a year after issue, Piłsudski's May Coup of 1926 effectively suspended the constitution's authority. Coins struck to honor it outlasted the document they commemorated.
Issued to mark the fourth anniversary of the March Constitution of 1921 — Poland's first democratic constitution following the restoration of independence after 123 years of partition — this coin was authorized under the government of Władysław Grabski, the same finance minister whose currency reform had only just stabilized the złoty after catastrophic post-war inflation. The timing was deliberate: Grabski needed the constitution to mean something in hard currency as well as on paper.
Less than a year after issue, Piłsudski's May Coup of 1926 effectively suspended the constitution's authority. Coins struck to honor it outlasted the document they commemorated.