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500 Zlotych
| Issuer | Narodowy Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Third Zloty (1949-1994) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NARODOWY BANK POLSKI PIĘĆSET ZŁOTYCH 500 500 ZŁ 500 WARSZAWA DNIA 1 LIPCA 1948 ROKU PREZES NACZELNY DYREKTOR SKARBNIK NBP |
| Reverse description | Printed in brown and dark grey on cream paper, the reverse presents an octagonal intaglio vignette of three coal miners at work underground, wielding pickaxes and shovels against a backdrop of pit props. The denomination '500' appears in large numerals at all four corners within dark hexagonal cartouches, and 'PIĘĆSET ZŁOTYCH' runs across the upper register in bold lettering. Symmetrical guilloche rosettes and stylised floral ornaments flank the central vignette on both sides, with a two-line legal tender clause printed in the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The 1948 Polish 500 Złotych (P#140) belongs to the first postwar series issued under full communist consolidation of the banking system — Narodowy Bank Polski had been reconstituted as a state monobank in 1945, replacing the prewar institution in name while severing it entirely from its interwar function. This series was printed in Moscow, a detail the Polish authorities were not eager to publicize, and the Soviet origin is detectable in the printing quality and paper stock when compared against notes printed domestically in subsequent decades.
The 1950 currency reform rendered the entire series worthless at a punishing exchange rate of 100 old złotych to 1 new — effectively a confiscation of private savings. Hoarding was common beforehand; discovery by authorities was dangerous.