1 Marka Polska, 1917

This copy

Accession

OM-00150

Series year

1917

Actually issued

1917

chief_treasurer

not read uncertain

Handwritten facsimile; not resolved to a name.

director_1

not read uncertain

Handwritten facsimile; not resolved.

director_2

not read uncertain

Handwritten facsimile; not resolved.

Grade

F (IBNS)

Moderate wear. Estimated from the archival scan. Folds, soiling and edge condition are visible at this resolution; paper crispness, pinholes, small repairs and pressing are not.

Estimated value

$3 indicative

Category benchmark scaled for grade — an order of magnitude, not an appraisal. Priced 2026-09-07.

Dimensions

110.1 × 68.9 mm (±0.5, from the scan)

Themes

First World WarGerman occupationInterwar Poland

The type

Type

1 Marka Polska, 1917

Printer

Not established

Rarity

common

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.