50 Zlotych

The P#142 50 Złotych series ran across an unusually long production window — over a decade — during which Poland lurched through the Solidarity crisis, martial law under Jaruzelski, and the slow economic collapse of the 1980s. Chronic shortages and suppressed inflation meant these notes circulated heavily and for far longer than intended, which is why worn examples vastly outnumber anything approaching mint condition.

Printed domestically by PWPW throughout, the series required no foreign contract — a point of some political significance during a period when hard currency for overseas printing would have been difficult to justify.