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500 Zlotych
| Issuer | Narodowy Bank Polski |
|---|---|
| Year | 1946 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Second Zloty (1924-1949) |
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| Obverse description | The face is printed in grey-green intaglio on a pale cream ground, with the bank title NARODOWY BANK POLSKI across the top flanked by a Polish eagle coat of arms at centre. Two allegorical figures occupy the lateral vignettes: at left, a seated male figure representing industry or seafaring rests beside an anchor and tools; at right, a standing female figure holds a sheaf of grain and a fish, symbolising agriculture and fisheries. A central guilloche panel carries the denomination numeral 500 and the inscription PIĘĆSET ZŁOTYCH above the issue date WARSZAWA 15 STYCZNIA 1946 ROKU, with three facsimile manuscript signatures for PREZES, NACZELNY DYREKTOR, and SKARBNIK printed below. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Poland's postwar monetary reconstruction was complicated by the coexistence of multiple issuing authorities in the mid-1940s. This 1946 series came from Narodowy Bank Polski as the communist-backed government worked to displace the London-exile government's financial structures and assert sole monetary authority over the country. The 500 Złotych denomination was substantial — enough to matter in a period of acute inflation driven by wartime destruction, reparations demands, and Soviet-aligned economic reorganization.
The series was short-lived. The 1950 currency reform exchanged old złotych at punishing rates, effectively wiping out savings and rendering notes of this type economically worthless almost overnight.