A typologically very rare banknote that was never put into circulation.
It's an issue that has survived to the present day only in the form of proof prints - with AA series and zero numbering - only a small part of which was overprinted with red SPECIMEN (typical of the 1947 zero issue designs).
The rarity of the overprinted variety is confirmed by the archives of Polish companies. We have only reached two former listings - from 2008 and 1997.
The present piece cut by hand from a sheet (like other pieces, without SPECIMEN, which we had the opportunity to see live), measuring 168 x 90 mm.
This is the first time in our offer.
Historical context of the issue:The year 1950 brought a complete replacement of any series of banknotes introduced in the post-war period between 1944 and 1948. These banknotes were replaced by an issue dated July 1, 1948 designed in a completely new layout - with a depiction of working people.
The present banknote also has a date of July 1, 1948 (just like the issue introduced after the replacement), but as you can see, its graphic design is based on the 1947 issue - only the color scheme was changed, and the one-letter series was replaced by a two-letter one. This shows that in preparation for the exchange, new banknotes based on the last issue before the exchange were considered.
History has shown that this idea was eventually abandoned, and no wonder, since the 1950 exchange was one of the most looted exchanges in Polish history. It was carried out by surprise - in just a few days applying a different conversion rate to money deposited in accounts (100 zlotys old for 3 zlotys new), and a different, inferior one (100:1) for cash. Its result was, in practice, the invalidation of about 60% of the money in circulation. The propaganda of the time justified this as an effective way of fighting kulaks and making citizens more equal in material terms, by depriving capitalists, privatizers and speculators of their money.
With such a drastic way of carrying out the exchange, it's no wonder that it was decided to completely disassociate itself from the earlier money, and hence the new issue was realized in a completely new design. The present design, based on the 1947 issue, remained only in the form of zero-numbered proofs, probably very few, as they appear really rarely on the collector market.
