100zl 1975-A and 500zl 1974-B autographed by Czeslaw Kaminski and Andrzej Heidrich

Nowadays, banknotes autographed by people associated with their issuance or known in the notafilist community have entered the canon of Polish notafilism and have become valued. However, this was not common 40-50 years ago, but even then there were people paying attention to it.

The forerunner of just such a look at banknotes was Jerzy Koziczynski. He was one of the first in Poland to deal professionally with our paper money at all, and he did so at a time when the banknote market was still negligible or almost non-existent.

However, his professionalism in this regard was quickly noticed, and in the 1990s he was appreciated by Janusz Lucow, as a result of which Jerzy Koziczynski became involved in work on the creation of the Lucow Collection, becoming its chief consultant. He also became the author of the excellent catalog of this collection - the largest private collection of Polish paper money to date - published in 6 volumes, in 2000-2013.

Jerzy Koziczynski personally met many notables associated with Polish paper money. Among them was Czesław Kamiński (1918-2000) - privately a collector and numismatist, and professionally in the first half of the 1970s the chief treasurer of the NBP. It is the facsimile of his signature that appears on the first two banknotes of the "Great Poles" series, i.e. 500zl 1974 and 100zl 1975.

And it was on both of these banknotes that Mr. Jerzy Koziczynski asked his friend, chief treasurer of the NBP - Czeslaw Kaminski - to additionally annotate pieces from his collection with his autograph on the margin.

And these are precisely the banknotes we are now offering at auction. What's more, at a later date, Mr. Jerzy asked their designer - Andrzej Heidrich (1928-2019) - to put his signature on them as well.

Thus, these two unique and one-of-a-kind banknotes were created! These are banknotes once touched and individually signed by the two people who contributed to their issuance, and to the initiation of the entire series. The designer - Andrzej Heidrich, and on the issuer's side the Chief Treasurer of the NBP - Czeslaw Kaminski.

Currently, both signatories have been dead for years. Czeslaw Kaminski died in 2000, and his handwritten autograph in the margin is the same as the one printed in intaglio on the banknote. Andrzej Heidrich died in 2019, and it was he who designed the banknotes. Both signed their names on them once, and no more banknotes signed in this way will be created.

These are one of a kind. Both are in issue condition and in PMG grading with the highest possible PMG bill for signed banknotes ("Annotation" meaning the signature prevents the bill from receiving a note higher than 64).

Both also look very nice being with consecutive series letters. The lower 100 zloty denomination has the A series, and the higher 500 zloty has the B series.

A beautiful set - definitely recommended.