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1 Cent Seamen's Trade Vouchers. Baltona
| Issuer | Przedsiębiorstwo Handlu Zagranicznego Baltona |
|---|---|
| Year | 1973 |
| Type | Exchange certificates |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | MARYNARSKI BON TOWAROWY UPOWAŻNIA DO POBRANIA TOWARÓW W SKLEPACH EKSPORTU MARYNARSKIEGO PHZ BALTONA WARTOŚCI $0,01$ JEDEN CENT BON NINIEJSZY MOŻE BYĆ ZREALIZOWANY JEDYNIE PRZEZ OSOBĘ UPOWAŻNIONĄ PRZEPISAMI O REALIZOWANIU DODATKÓW DEWIZOWYCH MARYNARZY I RYBAKÓW GDYNIA DNIA 1 LIPCA 1973 R. PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWO HANDLU ZAGRANICZNEGO Baltona |
| Reverse description | Lilac guilloche underprint covers the main panel, with four oval cartouches bearing $0,01 at the corners. The issuer name PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWO HANDLU ZAGRANICZNEGO is set in two lines above the bold italic Baltona script vignette. A three-line Polish disclaimer text occupies the lower portion. A detachable stub at right bears a faint watermark-style underprint. |
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| Comments |
Baltona (Przedsiębiorstwo Handlu Zagranicznego Baltona) was a Polish state foreign-trade enterprise that operated duty-free shops aboard vessels and in seaports, accessible only to Polish merchant and fishing fleet crews. These vouchers functioned as internal scrip — denominated in cents rather than złoty to allow purchases of Western goods priced in hard currency equivalents, sidestepping the inconvertibility of the złoty entirely. Crew members received them as a controlled substitute for actual foreign exchange, which they were legally barred from holding.
The cent denomination points to the system's dollar-peg logic. One cent had no purchasing power alone; the small denominations existed to make change within the shipboard shop economy.