Poland : Currency - Zloty

Couple of years back when I went to post office to send a letter to Poland, the person at the counter asked me if ‘Poland’ is a country and where it is. I was very surprised but I patiently explained him.

I am sure many of you might not have much information about this country and here is my attempt to introduce to you a nation with a very rich and great history.

Poland is a Central European nation having borders with Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Lithuania. It has a population of over 38 million, which is less than half of my home state Andhra Pradesh (India) population. Złoty is currency of Poland.

Establishment of Polish state is believed to have begun with the adaption of Christianity in 966 A.D. Kingdom of Poland formed Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569 by a treaty with rulers of Lithuania, became Polish Republic. Their commonwealth survived till 1795 until Kingdom of Prussia, the Russian Empire & Austria attacked, partitioned & eliminated the sovereign state Poland. After 123 years, Poland regained its sovereignty in 1918 by a revolution. After 20 years, Nazi Germany & Soviet Union invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War 2. Poland lost over 5 million people in war & many more in subsequent homicide of Jews by Nazis. Red Army was able to defeat Nazi’s and set up a communist rule in 1944. In 1980, Lech Walesa, a union leader started ‘Solidarity Movement’ a revolution against the communists, successfully over threw their rule in 1989 & democratic rule was re-established. Even though Poland was vastly destroyed in World War2, they managed to rebuild their country and were able to achieve huge development since then.

Poland was repeatedly attacked by neighbouring countries, lost its sovereignty but they never gave up and I truly admire their spirit.

Some interesting facts about Poland

·          Constitution of May 3, 1791 is considered as the 2^nd oldest constitution in modern history. It was in effect for only a year, until the Polish–Russian War of 1792.

·          Poland has 12 Nobel awards (11 Laureates). Marie-Curie won 2 Nobels.

·          Poland has 13 UNESCO Heritage sites

·          Polish Army salutes with only 2 fingers.

·          Poland was the first country to produce Vodka

·          Poland’s official language is considered one of the toughest languages to learn. For eg: Number 2- ‘dwa’ can be written in 17 ways.

·          90% of poles complete the secondary school education

Famous people from Poland

·          Nicolaus Copernicus, in 1543 proved that Earth revolves around Sun.

·          Frédéric Chopin, He is considered by many to be the greatest piano music composer.

·          Joseph Babinski, the famous neurologist is from Polish descent.

·          Holy Father Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)

·          Marie Skłodowska-Curie: Discoverer of 'polonuim','radium'. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to date to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences.

·          Casimir Funk: A biochemist who is generally credited with the first formulation of concept of vitamins in 1912

·          Napoleon Cybulski: The discoverer of adrenaline, he was the first to isolate and identify the substance in 1895.

·          Casimir Zeglen invented bullet proof vest.

"Witam wszystkich Polaków, ten post jest rezultatem mojego zainteresowania i dużego szacunku wobec historii i kultury waszego kraju.Mam nadzieję, że nie popełniłem błędów w informacjach, które zamieściłem poniżej. Proszę dajcie znać czy wam się to podoba i jeśli to możliwe podzielcie się z tym ze swoimi przyjaciółmi"

Let’s look at the polish notes


Poland 10 & 20 Zloty Notes:

 

Mieszko I


He was the duke of Polans between 930 to 992 A.D. Being a Pagan by birth, he adapted Christianity in 966 making it the traditional year of origin of Polish state. 

Bolesław I Chrobry


He is the son of the Mieszko I (above) & the first King of Poland. Played a crucial role in establishing Kingdom of Poland, thus reducing dependency on German Empire. He was coronated as a King in 1025 A.D & died just 2 months later. 


If you are interested in getting to know 'Why Mieszko I is not a king & just a duke'? Answer is at the bottom of the post. 

Mieszko Denar (Silver Denar) 


One of the silver coin during Mieszko's rule. 

Chrobry Denar


One of the Silver coin during Bolesław I Chrobry's rule

Dziesięć means 'TEN' & Złotych is their currency

Dwadzieścia means 'Twenty'

Coat of Arms / National Emblem of Poland


A white eagle with golden beak and a crown, looking to its right. 

Translation "The banknotes emitted/produced by the National Bank of Poland are a legal currency in Poland."

Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP; the National Bank of Poland) is the central bank of Poland. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the złoty. It also represents Poland in the European System of Central Banks, an EU organization.

WARSZAWA (Warsaw) is the capital of Poland. 


Signatures of Poland National Bank's President & Treasurer. 
















Q) Why Mieszko I is not a king & just a duke? Why did he adapted Christianity?
Q) Why Bolesław I Chrobry is famous? How the 'Kingdom of Poland' was formed?


Mieszko was a born Pagan. But he adapted Christianity in 966 because Christianity was on rise in europe. Pope & Church were ruling the europe and dukes were representatives of a church. To become a king & create a kingdom, Coronation by Pope is required. it never happened during the times of Mieszko. Thus he remained Duke all his life but indirectly the creator of polish kingdom.


Bolesław I Chrobry is the son of Mieszko. He was a duke for 33 years till 1025. German Emperor Otton III was very much impressed with Chrobry. He recommended Pope to coronate Chrobry as a king. Following the death of Otton III in 1002, his successor Henry II opposed kingdom of Poland. Chrobry waged successful war against Henry II who was killed in 1024. Finally in 1025, Chrobry was coronated, hence the Kingdom of Poland was formed, which in turn removed the dependency on German Empire.


*This is my own research and is not copied from anywhere.
*Thanks to all those friends who supported and helped me in preparing this data

Grading of Notes

Currency Notes are graded based on their condition. 

The grades specified by the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) are as follows 

Grade		Description
UNC	Uncirculated	A banknote that is bright and has no handling damage, such as folds or creases, nor any cuts, stains, or rounded corners
AU	About uncirculated	A banknote that is still bright but has trivial handling damage, i.e. a light centre fold (not a crease, which is a break of the fibres of the paper), without rounded corners
XF or EF	Extremely fine	a banknote with one crease or up to three light folds. Paper still bright and attractive, very slight wear to corners allowed
VF	Very Fine	Note still attractive, but possible slight dirt or smudging, may have several horizontal and/or vertical folds. Paper remains relatively crisp. No tears, but slight wear to edges and corners is allowable.
F	Fine	Paper is now slightly soft, considerable wear due to folds from use in circulation. Minor tears to note, not extending into the design. Clear but not bright in appearance. Staple holes but not holes due to folding.
VG	Very Good	Much wear. Paper is limp. Tears can extend into the design. Staining possible. Discoloration possible. Hole at center caused by folding allowable. Note still looks presentable.
G	Good	Very much wear, as VG, but more so. Graffiti on note. Small pieces of the note may be missing
	Fair	Larger pieces of note torn off/missing, compared with G. Less of the note intact
	Poor	Severe damage due to wear, staining, missing pieces, graffiti and/or holes

What is Notaphily?

Notaphily is the study of paper money or banknotes. A notaphilist is a collector of
banknotes, paper money, paper currency or plastic notes.


I have always wondered how this world would function without currency. It's quite
unimaginable to follow barter system in the 21st century.


For several centuries, coins were used to pay for the variety of items, they were an
important part of the exchange process. It is believed that paper currency was first
developed in the 7th century in China.


Notaphily is not as popular as Philately & coin collection but in recent times many people
have been showing interest in collecting currency notes.

Why this blog?

We all live such busy lives that its very tough to find time to get to know about something beyond our interests. Different people have different prejudices and perceptions about the outside world. Hobbies like Notaphily or Philately might give a person an opportunity to learn more about people of other cultures and countries. As far as creating this blog is considered, my sole objective is to bring together all possible pieces of information about a country through its currency note. After all, each note contains some images that are definitely worth to be discovered and learnt. I hope that the content of this blog will create curiosity among all of those readers who are eager to meet the world of currency notes.

The Beginning …

As a young boy, I was always very curious about different coins and currency notes. However, I never seriously collected them. For many years I was occupied with busy college life, then my job, proving myself, learning new stuff etc.
Then I started focusing on many aspects which I was interested in back in school days. Currency notes collection was one of them but I didn’t have a clue how to collect notes professionally. I wanted to buy them from my colleagues who had gone abroad. The problem was that they always had high denominations which I simply couldn’t afford.

Finally, for my 24th birthday, I received the best gift in my lifetime. It was a set of over 20 currency notes from various nations. Later on, one of my friends kept on supporting me and my collection. I also managed to buy some items from other collectors.
I decided to collect at least one currency note from every country on this planet. I also thought that doing some research on the notes I have, would be a good idea. It was supposed to concern not only the country the notes come from but also words, emblems, signatures and images which are presented on each and every one of them.

As of today, I have over 120 currency notes from about 80 countries, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still have a long way to go.