500 Polish marks

The Polish state, reborn in 1918, faced the challenges of rebuilding a country ruined by war and overcoming the legacy of slavery. Its legacy was the different legal, economic, financial and monetary systems of the Polish lands, which had until then functioned as part of the partitioned states. Thus, when World War I ended, Ukrainian carbuncles, hryvnias and vouchers issued by local authorities functioned alongside Austro-Hungarian, German and Russian money. The difficult political and economic situation of the young state did not allow for the creation of a Polish Bank and a national currency. Therefore, it was decided that until that time the function of a banking institution would be performed by the Polish National Loan Fund (PKKP), which issued Polish marks (mkp), still established by the Germans. The occupation issues of this institution did not lose their validity and were treated equally with the new marks. The dismissal of German staff from the PKKP did not paralyse its operations. It was to the great credit of Director Zygmunt Chamiec, who had been involved with PKKP since its inception.

First the stocks of mkp, still accumulated by the Germans, were put into circulation, and then the printing of new issues began. The 500 mkp banknote was the first paper money of independent Poland and was in circulation from 11 February 1919 to 1 January 1924. Its non-original graphic design, taken directly from the 100 mkp from the period of the German occupation, resulted from the need to save time necessary to make the design and matrices.

The banknote, printed in the State Printing House in Vienna, is distinguished by rich floral ornamentation and an image of the White Eagle rising above the clouds, placed in a crowned oval shield on a red background.

The characteristic feature of the ornamented reverse are shields depicting the head of the goddess Minerva, patron of literature, art, knowledge and reason.

The security feature of the banknote, apart from the guilloche ornamentation, which was difficult to counterfeit, was a watermark in the form of a mosaic.

The purchasing power of 500 mkp in early 1919 was the equivalent of a man's coat lined with fur.

Tomasz Markiewicz