Old Money Registry

Albums / Poland

Poland

A state restored after 123 years of partition, its first marks, and banknotes overprinted by the underground opposition of the 1980s.

9 notes · 1917–1986

Obverse of 1 Marka Polska, 1917

1 Marka Polska, 1917

Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa ·1917 ·1 Marka

· OM-00150 · F

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This copy

Accession
OM-00150
Series year
1917
Actually issued
1917
chief treasurer
not readuncertain
director 1
not readuncertain
director 2
not readuncertain
Grade
F (IBNS)
Estimated value
$3indicative
Dimensions
110.1 × 68.9 mm (±0.5)

The type

Type
1 Marka Polska, 1917
Rarity
common
Themes
First World War German occupation Interwar Poland

Inscriptions

Reverse — the promise of a future currency

Państwo Polskie przyjmuje odpowiedzialność za wymianę niniejszego biletu na przyszłą polską walutę według stosunku, który dla marek polskich uchwali Sejm Ustawodawczy

The Polish State accepts responsibility for exchanging this note for the future Polish currency at a rate to be resolved by the Legislative Sejm — money issued against a currency that did not yet exist

Symbology

Polish eagle
The white eagle of Poland, crowned - a state restored after 123 years of partition, reaching straight back to the arms it had before it vanished.

What was happening

Marks of the Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa, the bank founded under German occupation in 1916 and inherited by independent Poland in 1918.

A new state with no monetary history of its own reached for its national portraits — Kościuszko above all — and printed marks until inflation forced the 1924 reform that created the złoty. These are the money of the first six years of Polish independence.

This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 1 Marka Polska, 1917 in the collection.