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500 Zlotys Environmental Protection - Swan

Issuer Narodowy Bank Polski (National Bank of Poland)
Year 1984
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Weight 16.5 g
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Obverse description The crowned Polish imperial eagle with wings spread occupies the central field, rendered in high relief with fine feather detail. The date 1984 is divided to either side of the eagle's lower body, with '19' to the left and '84' to the right. The denomination '500' appears prominently in the lower field, flanked by the currency abbreviation 'ZŁ' on each side. The circular legend 'POLSKA RZECZPOSPOLITA LUDOWA' runs along the upper periphery, separated by dot stops. The mint mark 'MW' of the Mint of Poland appears below the eagle.
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Obverse lettering • POLSKA • RZECZPOSPOLITA • LUDOWA • 19 84 mw ZŁ 500 ZŁ
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Additional information

Poland's Environmental Protection series, launched by Narodowy Bank Polski in the early 1980s, was one of the more unusual collector programs to emerge from a Warsaw Pact state — conservation-themed coinage sitting oddly alongside a government that had declared martial law just years prior. The mute swan had been a protected species in Poland since 1952, one of the earlier such designations in postwar Eastern Europe.

The .750 silver fineness is characteristic of Polish collector issues from this decade, a compromise driven by hard currency shortages that constrained what the state mint could allocate to silver content.

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