Poland. New Silver Proof Coins from Popular Collector Series Features 5 Złoty Pieces of 1831

Launched in 2013, The History of Polish coins series focuses on some of Poland’s most historic and aesthetically pleasing coins from over one thousand years of Polish minting. The latest and 18^th coin in the series featured is the 5 Zlotych silver coins minted during Poland’s ‘November Uprising’. Fought from November 1830 to September 1831, the Warsaw Mint was still able to operate at full capacity under difficult conditions. The Polish National Government demanded as much money as possible to cover its enormous expenses. As a result, during certain periods, the mint worked around the clock, and their dedicated employees ‘do not go home, but rest on straw in turns’. An additional obstacle was the installation of a cannon factory in the mint building, which also used some of the Mint’s equipment and floor space there. To compound matters further, some Mint employees were forcibly conscripted into the insurgent army, and there was a threat of even greater conscription. One serious problem facing overall production was the lack of raw materials for coin production. Attempts were made to remedy this by confiscating silver and gold items from temples of all faiths. As such, the decision was made to obtain Church bells to use as raw materials for minting copper 3-grosz trojak coins.

Despite the outbreak of the uprising, the mint initially continued to strike coins using the old dies which went unchanged until after the dethronement of Czar Nicholas I on the 25th January 1831. As early as February, the mint was then ordered to remove the Czar’s portrait from the dies and instead replace it with a new coat of arms of the Kingdom, depicting an Eagle on the left and a Knight on horseback on the right of a divided, crowned crest. Altogether, copper 3 grosz trojak coins, low-grade silver billon 10 grosz coins, silver 2 złoty and 5 złoty coins and gold ducats of the Dutch type were struck with this new crest totalling 7.5 million coins of all types. The 5 złoty denomination representing the insurgent currency was chosen as the theme for the new collector coin. Weighing 15.5 grams of 86 percent silver with a diameter of 31.5 millimetres, a total of 22,571 pieces were ordered by the National government.

The silver proof coins are produced by the Mennica Polska – Mint of Poland at their facilities in Warsaw on behalf of the National Bank and designed by Dominika Karpińska-Kopiec. The obverse features the transitional coat of arms featuring the Eagle and Knight on horseback. The inscription along the rim above clearly indicates that it symbolises the Kingdom of Poland, KRÓLESTWO POLSKIE. Above and along the upper rim of the replicated coin is the text   5 ZŁOTYCH Z OKRESU POWSTANIA LISTOPADOWEGO (5 złoty from the period of the November Uprising). Below the primary design and along the lower rim is a patterned ornament decoration taken from a commemorative box of a presentation set of insurrection coins produced at the time. The reverse shows a replicated element of the silver coin off-centre and placed toward the upper left. The text 5 ZŁOT· POL· is surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves with the two letters K· and G· - the initials of the mint’s administrator, Karol Gronau shown just under the knot of the wreath. Along the rim, the exact coinage standard of the 5 złoty coin and the date: 17 211/625 Z GRZYW·CZYST·KOL· * ROKU 1831 * are featured along the rim. Placed to the lower left is an element from from the cap badge of an officer of 2 MAZURY (2nd Masovian Cavalry Regiment) depicting an eagle. Close to the lower rim is a contemporary reverse design image within a small circle. It contains an image of the crowned Eagle, the emblem of the Republic of Poland and the inscription RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA · 2025 and the denomination 20 ZŁ. The flat edge of each coin includes the incused lettering BOŻE ZBAW POLSKĘ (God save Poland).

Available from the 27th November, each coin is encapsulated and presented in a heavy gauge custom card case accompanied with a certificate of authenticity. For additional information, please visit the e-webshop of the National Bank of Poland.