...Poland - 20 Zloty It Is Worth Being A Pole Commemorative 2021

 Rzeczpospolita Polska
(Republic of Poland)

Naradowy Bank Polski
(National Bank of Poland)
Currency - Zloty (PLN)

 

This is a 20 zloty paper commemorative note released on 09.11.2021. The theme for this issue is "It Is Worth Being A Pole". A total quantity of 80,000 sets all issued in a simple cover/folder. The issue price for this series is 100 zloty.

The design for this note is to honor the late Polish President Lech Aleksander Kaczynski (b.1949-2010). Kaczynski was born in 1949, and became the President of Poland in 2005. However, his Presidency only lasted for 5 years as he was killed in an air crash while flying to Russia to attend the Katyn massacre memorial service in 2010, aged 60. The Katyn massacre was a series of mass executions of some 22,000 Polish military officers by the Russians during the second world war in Russia. All 96 passengers on board the Soviet made Tupolev Tu-154M plane were killed while attempting to land on the Russian's Smolensk Air Base. The death toll included his wife and some high ranking military officers and civilian leaders. Suspicion rose quickly that the plane was deliberately or accidentally shot down by the Russians. Prior to that, Kaczynski served as the Mayor of Warsaw between 2002 and 2005. 

During his Presidency, Kaczynski appointed his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski as the Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 and at that time, the two brothers were the world's first brothers to serve in a government as President and Prime Minister. Jaroslaw Kaczynski is now the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, since October 2020.

Other designs featured on the front of the note are the Presidential palace, the text Warto byç Polakiem (It is worth being a Pole) and the signature of Lech Aleksander Kaczynski next to it. Behind the portrait of Lech Aleksander Kaczynski is the Polish National Arms.

On the back, it depicts the main image of the Polish world famous shipyard workers strike at Lenin Shipyards in 1980 staged by the non-government trade union founded on 14.08.1980, thus starting the trade union called Solidarity led by their leader Lech Walesa. Other designs featuring three hands showing the Victory signs, the entrance to the Polish military cemetery in Katyn, the Warsaw Rising museum. As we all know, that Lech Walesa later went on and became the President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.

 

This note is legal tender and is printed with the date of 10 Kwjetnia 2021 (10.04.2021).

 

Twenty Zloty

President Lech Aleksander Kaczynski (b.1949-2010)

 

Signatures

Prezes (President) - Adam Glapinski

Gtowny Skarbnik (Honorable Treasurer) - Barbara Jaroszek 

Dimensions - 150mm x 77mm

Imprinter - Polish Security Printing Works (PWPW S.A.)

Quantity - 80,000 sets at 100 zloty each

1980 Solidarity activity at the Gdansk Shipyard

Front Cover

Folder front cover

This is the front and back of the simple folder that comes with this commemorative note. On the back, there are details of this issue printed in both Polish and English. Here I have repeated word for word that are printed on this folder in English: -

Lech Kaczynski. It is Worth Being a Pole

In 2021, Narodowy Bank Polski issued a commemorative banknote "Lech Kaczynski. It is Worth Being a Pole", with the face value of 20 zloty.

The front of the note features a portrait of Prof. Lech Kaczynski, the late President of the Republic of Poland, a stylised image of the order of the White Eagle, and an image of the Presidential Palace. A security feature in the form of a latent image has been placed below the Order of the White Eagle, and the top left-hand corner of the front of the note bears the value numeral made in foil foil with a motion effect. In the paper, a watermark with a filigree - which features the Presidential Couple, Maria and Lech Kaczynski - and two-coloured windowed security thread, have been applied.

The back of the note displays an image of the building of the Warsaw Rising Museum, an image of the bell dedicated to the memory of Antoni Chrusciel, alias "Monter", Commander of the Warsaw Uprising, which contains a security feature made in colour-shifting ink, a crowd of strikers in the Gdansk Shipyard in the 1980s with the inscription SOLODARNOSC (Solidarity), and a part of the view of the Polish War Cemetery in Katyn.

Face Value: 20 zl

Dimensions: 150mm x 77mm

Designer: Justyna Kopecka

Issuer: Narodowy Bank Polski

Manufacturer: Polish Security Printing Works, on behalf of NBP

Date of issue: 9 November 2021

(the only information missing here are the name of the signatures on the note and also the price and quantity issued)

Folder back cover

Below are the full list of all commemorative notes issued since 2006;-

2006 - 50zl Karol Wojtyla aka Pope John Paul ll : qty 2.0M (i/p 90zl)

2008 - 10zl Josef Pilsudski : qty 80,000 (i/p 15zl)

2009 - 20zl Poet Julius Slowacki : qty 80,000 (i/p 80zl)

2009 - 20zl Frederic Francois Chopin : qty 120,000 (i/p 50zl)

2011 - 20zl Marie Sklodowska Curie : qty 60,000 (i/p 60zl)

2014 - 20zl Josef Pilsudski [polymer] : qty 60,000 (i/p 50zl)

2015 - 20zl Jan Dlugosz : qty 30,000 (i/p 72zl)

2016 - 20zl Doubravka of Bohemia & King Miezko : qty 35,000 (i/p 75zl)

2017 - 20zl Our Lady of Czestochowa : qty 55,000 (i/p 60zl)

2018 - 20zl Josef Pilsudski : qty 50,000 (i/p 75zl)

2019 - 19zl Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartosciowych [hybrid] : qty 55,000 (i/p 80zl)

2020 - 20zl Josef Pilsudski : qty 60,000 (i/p 80zl)

2021 - 20zl Lech Kaczynski : qty 80,000 (i/p 100zl)

2022 - 20zl Protection of the Eastern Front : qty 80,000 (i/p 50zl)

2023 - 20zl Nicolaus Copernicus [polymer]: qty 100,000 (i/p 160zl)

2024 - 20zl Warsaw Uprising 1944-2024: qty 80,000 (i/p 140zl)