...Poland - 20 Zlotych Commemorative - 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising 1944-2024 Folder

Rzeczpospolita Polska
(Republic of Poland)

Naradowy Bank Polski
(National Bank of Poland, Est.1945)
Currency - Zloty (PLN)

 

This commemorative note was released on 26.07.2024 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. According to the official website, a total of 80,000 sets have been issued and like all commemorative notes issued, this note also comes in a simple folder and is sold at 140 zlotych each. This is a numismatic collectible banknote of 20 zlotych and is legal tender in Poland as face value.

 

The Warsaw Uprising was a failed operation and is referred to the Polish underground resistance group to liberate Warsaw from the German Nazi occupation during the Second World War (1939-1945). The uprising carried out by the pro-Western Polish Home Army was started on 01.08.1944 and only lasted for 63 days to 02.10.1944. At the time of the uprising, the Germans were losing the war and were about to retreat, ahead of the Soviet advance into Poland. However, the advancing Soviet army deliberately halted their advances from the eastern side of Warsaw, and this gave the Germans time to regroup and defeat the Polish resistance. The Warsaw Uprising is also sometimes referred to as the August Uprising. The casualties for this uprising were very high with an estimated 16,000 members of the Polish resistance killed (averaging 253+ killed per day) plus another 200,000 civilians lost their life, mainly due to mass executions carried out by the German as punishment against those resisted. The uprising destroyed about 85% of Warsaw. The Polish leader who gave the order for the uprising at that time was led by Generał Tadeusz Komorowski (b.1895-1966). After the war, General Tadeusz Komorowski went on to serve as the 3rd Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile from 1947 to 1949. He died in exile at the age of 71 years old. Many historians would say that the Warsaw Uprising was premature and that is why it failed with loss of so many lives.

 

This is the 16th commemorative banknote issued by the National Bank of Poland since 2006. Since 2014, the bank has been releasing commemorative banknotes on a yearly basis and sold them as numismatic collectables at a premium. Although all notes issued are legal tender, it is very unlikely that you will ever find them circulating as legal tender notes for goods and services rendered. However, is this going to be an annual event in releasing numismatic collectable commemorative notes going forward? I personally would like to see them releasing them as commemorative circulating types as it might be cheaper to acquire as a collector. The face value for this 20 zlotych is worth about US$5 and the official selling price is 7 times the value of the note.

 

Commemorative banknotes issued by the bank have become popular among collectors over the past few years. Apart from the first issue of the 2006 John Paul II note (50 zlotych - 2.0 million sets issued), the value for all other collectable notes have gone up in value, with a few now getting a bit expensive to collect. 

Twenty Zlotych

 

Front - This is according to the information printed on the folder back cover, showing insurgents on a barricade watching the PAST (Polish Telephone Joint Stock Company) buildings in flames and in the center, a group of German prisoners of war. Below that is a billowing Polish flag of white and red colours, which is also visible under UV light. The denomination of '20' is printed with brick wall rolling effect colour. The note is printed with the Polish date of Warszawa 10 stycznia 2024 r. (Warsaw January 10, 2024). This note is printed by the Polish Security Works (PWPW S.A.) with the prefix of PW.

Signatures

President (Prezes) - Adam Glapinski (since 2016)

Chief Treasurer (Główny Skarbnik) - Barbara Jaroszek (since 2017)

Watermark - Fighting Poland symbol against a stylised  brick wall and electrotype 1944

Quantity - 80,000 sets

Official issue price - 140 zlotych (face value 20 zlotych)

Dimensions - 151.5mm x 78mm

Back - On the left are two resistance fighters with rifles in hands positioning themselves against the background of a destroyed building captured from the interiors of the Church of the Holy Cross, as well as a field mass celebrated in the courtyard at 12 Poznanska Street. To the far right are two-colour graphic elements symbolising brick ruins. 

Note - I believe the two images depicting the insurgents in the front and the resistance fighters in the back both derived from actual photos taken during the time of the uprising. No doubt these are historical images of the war during the German occupation in Poland. I wonder if the Polish authority has ever identified who they are?

 

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, 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising : qty 80,000 (i/p 140zl)