50 Zlotys 700th Anniversary of the Consecration of St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków

St. Mary's Basilica — properly the Collegiate Church of the Assumption of Our Lady — was consecrated in 1320, placing this issue squarely in the reign of Władysław I the Elbow-High, the first king crowned at Wawel Cathedral after Poland's reunification. The glass insert embedded in the silver field incorporates an element sourced from the basilica's windows, a practice NBP has used selectively for church anniversary issues to create a direct material link between coin and monument.

The 700-year figure itself is complicated: portions of the current Gothic structure postdate 1320 considerably, with the main tower completed only in 1478.