Polish coins and banknotes explained

Current Polish coins and banknotes issued by the National Bank of Poland.

Coins

Although some of the coins were minted as early as 1990, they were not released until January 1, 1995, when the złoty was redenominated after hyperinflation was harnessed. There are 100 grosz (gr) to one złoty (zł).

1990 Series ^[1]
Value	Technical parameters			Description			Date of first minting
	Diameter	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse
1 grosz	15.5 mm	1.64 g	Steel bronze	Serrated	State title and the eagle of the coat of arms	Value and 1 leaf	1990
2 grosze	17.5 mm	2.13 g		Plain		Value and 2 leaves
5 groszy	19.5 mm	2.59 g		Alternately smooth and serrated		Value and 5 leaves
10 groszy	16.5 mm	2.51 g	Cupronickel	Alternately smooth and serrated	State title and the eagle of the coat of arms	Value and (10) encircling leaves	1990
20 groszy	18.5 mm	3.22 g		Serrated		Value and (20) square-shaped leaves
50 groszy	20.5 mm	3.94 g				Value and (50) leaves in semicircle shape
1 zł	23 mm	5 g		Alternately smooth and serrated		Value and (100) leaves in full-circle shape
	2 zł	21.5 mm Core: 12 mm	5.21 g	Ring: Aluminium bronze Center: Cupronickel		Plain	Value and 2 leaves in the ring portion		1994
	5 zł	24 mm Core: 16 mm^[2]	6.54 g	Ring: Cupronickel Center: Aluminium bronze	Irregularly milled	State title and the eagle of the coat of arms	Value and 5 leaves in the ring portion		1994
Note: due to copyright law in Poland the Polish zloty coins may not be freely reproduced.^[3]

Mintage

Republic of Poland regular^[4] coin mintage by year
Year 1 gr! 2 gr 5 gr! 10 gr 20 gr! 50 gr 1 zł! 2 zł^[5] 5 zł^[6] 1990 29,140,000 34,400,000 70,240,000 43,055,000 25,100,000 29,152,000 20,240,000 1991 79,000,000 97,410,000 171,040,000 123,164,300 75,400,000 99,120,000 60,080,000 1992 362,000,000 157,000,003 103,784,000 210,005,000 106,100,001 116,000,000 102,240,000 1993 80,780,000 20,280,101 80,240,008 20,904,000 1994 69,956,000 79,644,000 112,896,033 1995 102,280,109 101,600,113 99,740,122 122,880,020 1996 29,745,000 52,940,003 1997 103,080,002 92,400,002 59,755,000 1998 257,640,003 154,840,050 93,472,002 62,695,000 52,500,000 1999 203,970,000 187,900,000 99,024,000 47,040,000 25,985,000 2000 210,100,000 94,500,000 75,600,000 104,060,000 52,135,000 2001 210,000,020 84,000,000 67,368,000 62,820,000 41,980,001 2002 240,000,000 83,910,000 67,200,000 10,500,000 10,500,000 2003 250,000,000 80,000,000 48,000,000 31,500,000 20,400,000 2004 300,000,000 100,000,000 62,500,000 70,500,000 40,000,025 2005 375,000,000 163,003,250 113,000,000 94,000,000 37,000,025 5,000,000 2006 184,000,000 105,000,000 54,000,000 40,000,000 35,000,000 5,000,000 2007 330,000,000 160,000,000 116,000,000 100,000,000 68,000,000 20,000,000 2008 316,000,000 172,000,000 107,000,000 103,000,000 91,000,000 13,000,000 5,000,000 15,000,000 5,000,000 2009 338,000,000 222,000,000 160,000,000 146,000,000 133,000,000 57,000,000 34,000,000 62,000,000 59,000,000 2010 150,000,000 120,000,000 100,000,000 62,000,000 45,000,000 12,000,000 3,000,000 15,000,000 30,000,000 2011 270,000,000 150,000,000 90,000,000 80,000,000 15,000,000 10,000,000 2012 365,000,000 100,000,000 60,000,000 136,000,000 38,000,000 12,000,000 10,000,000 2013 323,000,000 150,000,000 88,000,000 142,000,000 36,000,000 30,000,000 21,000,000 2014a^[7] 86,000,000 20,000,000 15,000,000 88,000,000 46,000,000 28,400,000 35,250,000 28,000,000 2014b^[8] 334,924,900^[9] 117,084,750 81,004,500 2015 388,560,000 129,870,000 115,050,000 112,050,000 78,030,000 44,010,000 39,000,000 34,350,000 38,040,000 2016 266,011,103 142,741,600 120,900,100 116,700,000 69,120,000 28,980,000 29,775,000 35,150,000 35,040,000 2017 391,200,000 143,910,000 126,150,000 154,200,000 88,695,000 44,370,000 41,175,000 30,900,000 23,220,000 2018 435,840,000 161,850,000 144,600,000 169,800,000 89,100,000 42,030,000 42,000,000 37,425,000 2019 413,520,000 167,115,000 116,100,000 128,700,000 58,320,000 54,990,000 60,750,000 27,975,000 2020 400,080,000 161,460,000 135,000,000 170,100,000 94,230,000 41,580,000 42,000,000 33,525,000 6,436,000
Source: National Bank of Poland Official coinage

Special issue 5zł coins

These special issue coins have value and are intended for general circulation.

Banknotes

1994 Series ("Sovereigns of Poland" First Series)^[19]
Value	NBP	Dimensions	Main colour	Description			Date of
				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark	printing	issue
10 zł	https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/banknoty_obiegowe/10zl.html	120 × 60 mm	Dark brown	Mieszko I	Silver denar coin during the reign of Mieszko I	As portrait	25 March 1994	1 January 1995
20 zł	https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/banknoty_obiegowe/20zl.html	126 × 63 mm	Violet and pink	Bolesław I Chrobry	Silver denar coin during the reign of Bolesław I Chrobry
50 zł	https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/banknoty_obiegowe/50zl.html	132 × 66 mm	Dark blue	Kazimierz III Wielki	White Eagle from the royal seal of Casimir III the Great and the regalia of Poland: sceptre and globus cruciger
100 zł	https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/banknoty_obiegowe/100zl.html	138 × 69 mm	Dark green	Władysław II Jagiełło	Shield bearing a White Eagle from the tombstone of Władysław II Jagiełło, coat of the Teutonic Knights and the Grunwald Swords			1 June 1995
200 zł	https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/banknoty_obiegowe/200zl.html	144 × 72 mm	Brown and orange	Zygmunt I Stary	Eagle intertwined with the letter S in a hexagon, from the Sigismund's Chapel
Note: due to copyright law in Poland the Polish zloty banknotes may not be freely reproduced.

2012 Series ("Sovereigns of Poland" Second Series)
Value	NBP	Dimensions	Main colour	Description			Date of
				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark	printing	issue
10 zł	https://nbp.pl/banknoty-i-monety/banknoty-obiegowe/10-zl/	120 × 60 mm	Dark brown	Mieszko I	Silver denar coin during the reign of Mieszko I, romanesque columns from the Tyniec Abbey	As portrait	5 January 2012	7 April 2014
20 zł	https://nbp.pl/banknoty-i-monety/banknoty-obiegowe/20-zl/	126 × 63 mm	Violet and pink	Bolesław I Chrobry	Silver denar coin during the reign of Bolesław I Chrobry, Rotunda of Saint Nicolas in Cieszyn, a lion from the Gniezno Doors
50 zł	https://nbp.pl/banknoty-i-monety/banknoty-obiegowe/50-zl/	132 × 66 mm	Dark blue	Kazimierz III Wielki	White Eagle from the royal seal of Casimir III the Great and the regalia of Poland: sceptre and globus cruciger, views of Kraków and Kazimierz by Hartmann Schedel
100 zł	https://nbp.pl/banknoty-i-monety/banknoty-obiegowe/100-zl/	138 × 69 mm	Dark green	Władysław II Jagiełło	Shield bearing a White Eagle from the tombstone of Władysław II Jagiełło, coat of the Teutonic Knights and the Grunwald Swords, Malbork Castle
200 zł	https://nbp.pl/banknoty-i-monety/banknoty-obiegowe/200-zl/	144 × 72 mm	Brown and orange	Zygmunt I Stary	Eagle intertwined with the letter S in a hexagon, from the Sigismund's Chapel, and main courtyard of the Wawel Castle		30 March 2015	12 February 2016
500 zł	https://nbp.pl/banknoty-i-monety/banknoty-obiegowe/500-zl/	150 × 75 mm	Violet, gray, blue, yellow, and green	Jan III Sobieski	Wilanow Palace, coat of arms from the reign of John III Sobieski		16 February 2016	10 February 2017
Note: due to copyright law in Poland the Polish zloty banknotes may not be freely reproduced.

Commemorative banknotes

Commemorative Series ^[20]
Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Description			Number issued	Date of issue
			Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
50 zł	144 x 72 mm	Blue, yellow	Pope John Paul II, Polish coat of arms	Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, a quotation from Letter to Poles, Jasna Góra Monastery and church	Papal arms of John Paul II	2,000,000	October 16, 2006
10 zł	138 x 69 mm	Pink, orange	Polish coat of arms, Belweder Palace, Commander Józef Piłsudski	White eagle, Monument of the Heroic Deed of Polish Legions in Kielce.	Józef Piłsudski, electrotype denomination	80,000	November 3, 2008
20 zł	138 x 69 mm	Orange, yellow, brown	Polish coat of arms, Chalet in Krzemieniec, Juliusz Słowacki	Cranes, an excerpt of the poem Sedation, Statue of Sigismund III Vasa at Castle Square in Warsaw.	Juliusz Słowacki, electrotype denomination	80,000	September 23, 2009
20 zł	138 x 69 mm	Light blue, Light brown, black	Frédéric Chopin, the mansion in Zelazowa where the composer was born, reproduction of the first edition of Mazurka in B-flat major, Opus 7 No 1, Chopin's autograph.	Facsimile of a fragment of Étude in f-minor, Opus 10, No 9, landscape in Central Poland with Masovian willows.	Chopin	120,000	February 26, 2010
20 zł	138 x 69 mm	Brown and green	Marie Skłodowska Curie, Sorbona w Paryżu (Sorbonne school building in Paris), Coat of arms, Ra (atomic symbol for radium) in SPARK patch in concentric circles.	Quotation by Marie Skłodowska Curie ("I have detected the radium, but not created it; the glory does not belong to me, but it is the property of the whole mankind."), Instytut Radowy w Warszawie (Radium Institute building in Warsaw); Nobel Prize medal for chemistry.	Marie Skłodowska Curie and electrotype denomination	60,000	December 12, 2011
20 zł	147 x 67 mm	Green, brown, yellow and blue	Belvedere Palace hologram; coat of arms with crowned eagle; Commander Józef Klemens Piłsudski wearing military uniform.	Eagle badge of the Polish Legions; Grand Cross (with Star) of the Order of Virtuti Militari; badge of the First Brigade of the Polish Legions; Belvedere Palace hologram.	None	50,000	August 5, 2014
20 zł	138 x 69 mm	Brown, green, gold and violet	1415 as registration device; open book; coat of arms with crowned eagle; Jan Długosz	Wieniawa coat of arms Wawel cathedral in Kraków; stained glass window	Shield with crowned eagle	30,000	August 24, 2015
20 zł	144 x 77 mm	Blue and red	Coat of arms with crowned eagle Dobrawa (Doubravka of Bohemia) and King Miezko I; ornate cross; floor plan of church as registration device	Floor plan of church; Gniezno Cathedral; royal chalice of Trzemeszno	Unknown with electrotype 20	35,000	April 12, 2016
20 zł	150 x 77 mm	Blue	Crowns of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa	Drawing of Częstochowa in 1717, depicting the coronation event	Coat of arms of the Pauline Fathers	55,000	August 21, 2017
20 zł	150 x 77 mm		Józef Klemens Piłsudski, Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta	Flag of Poland, badge of the Polish Military Organization		50,000	August 31, 2018
19 zł	150 x 77 mm		Ignacy Jan Paderewski and a stylized image of the Order of the White Eagle; word niepodległa (“independent”)	Current headquarters of the Polish Security Printing Works		55,000	October 2, 2019
20 zł	150 x 77 mm	Brown-green, blue	Eastern border landscape with helicopter	Officer and soldier of the Border Guard		80,000	July 19, 2022

See also

• Poland and the euro
• Polish złoty
• Commemorative coins of Poland

References

1. http://www.nbp.pl/Homen.aspx?f=en/banknoty/monety.htm National Bank of Poland - Internet Information Service
2. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_obiegowe/opisy.html#zl5 Five złoty dimensions from NBP
3. Web site: Banknotes & Counterfeit Deterrence . rulesforuse.org . May 24, 2020.
4. that is, non-collectible and non-commemorative
5. excludes the low-mintage commemorative special-issue 2 zł coins made every year since 1995
6. excludes the low-mintage commemorative special-issue 5 zł coins made since 2014
7. [Polish Mint]
8. [Royal Mint]
9. includes 1,000,000 pieces of pilot batch production marked the year 2013
10. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2014.html#m15 Zamek Królewski w Warszawie
11. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2014.html#m07 25 lat wolności
12. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2015.html#m12 Ratusz w Poznaniu
13. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2015.html#m05 Kanał Bydgoski
14. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2016.html#m09 Księży Młyn w Łodzi
15. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2016.html#m14 Zamek Książąt Pomorskich w Szczecinie
16. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2017.html#m05 Kaplica Trójcy Świętej na Zamku Lubelskim
17. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2017.html#m21 Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy
18. http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2018.html#m21 100-lecie odzyskania przez Polskę niepodległości
19. http://www.nbp.pl/Homen.aspx?f=en/banknoty/banknoty.htm National Bank of Poland - Internet Information Service
20. http://www.nbp.pl/homen.aspx?f=/en/banknoty/kolekcjonerskie/banknoty_kolekcjonerskie_en.html The National Bank of Poland's Collector's Banknote page