Here is a banknote absent from 99.9% of the collection of the "Great Poles" series.
The one with which this iconic issue began.... although it never went into circulation for political reasons.
The 500 zloty with Maria Skłodowska Curie is one of the greatest rarities of paper money of the communist period. The cornerstone of the Great Poles series. A banknote with an extremely interesting historical background, which was last listed on the antiquarian market more than 6 years ago!
It was the last stop in the search for a new form of Polish banknotes, which lasted several years. Replacing the old 1948 issue, which no longer matched the spirit of a changing Poland. A journey that began in 1960. It was then that the National Bank of Poland announced a closed competition for the most outstanding graphic designers. Their task was to design the then absent from circulation one-thousand zloty banknote.
And although one banknote was realized on the basis of the prepared designs - the 1,000 zloty with Copernicus, well known to collectors - it had a deeper significance for Polish paper money. He began NBP's cooperation with Andrzej Heidrich, who became the creator of all Polish circulating banknotes in the following years! And it was he who made the next attempt. He prepared for the bank a full series of five denominations with "Polish Cities" on the reverse. These, however, did not go beyond the stage of proof prints (very rare, as we have proof in this collection). Only betting on "Great Poles" turned out to be a hit.
As Czeslaw Miłczak recalls, "the bank's management decided that the first banknote in the series would be a 500 zloty bill with the likeness of Maria Skłodowska. The Polish Security Printing Works was responsible for its printing, and as Andrzej Heidrich recalled - the work took 5 years! In order to properly present the banknote to the decision-makers, one-sided, high-quality prints of the obverse and reverse (like this one) were made. Wide margins were kept with them so that they could be pasted into a rigid cover with passe-partout so that the banknote presented itself as if it were in circulation format.
However, this procedure did not help. The project was negated by Prime Minister Jaroszewicz himself, pointing out the"misguided and unacceptable" choice of figures. He did not kill the entire series, however. As early as December 1974, a 500 zloty banknote with Tadeusz Kosciuszko was put into circulation, starting a series familiar to almost every Pole.
One of the icons of Janusz Położenko's collection.
In the archives of Polish companies, in this version, listed only twice - in 2014 and 2019!
Definitely recommended, as you will probably have to wait years for another opportunity!
Sheet size ~148 x 78 mm (bills 137 x 63 mm).
Our article detailing the design and genesis of the issue of this bill is available at marciniak.com.
