500 Zlotys Casimir III the Great

Casimir III — the only Polish king history appended "the Great" to — died in 1370 after a hunting accident, leaving no legitimate male heir and ending the Piast dynasty after over four centuries. This 1987 issue falls within the late communist-era commemorative program through which the Polish People's Republic produced silver collector coins with conspicuous nationalist content, an ideological awkwardness the state apparently never resolved: celebrating medieval monarchy while officially committed to Marxist-Leninist doctrine.

The .750 fineness places it below standard sterling, a specification Mennica Polska used consistently across this series to reduce silver costs during a period of chronic hard-currency shortages.