Poland Coin

You didn't expect my coin collection to be complete without some coins from Poland, did you? I know, this is supposed to be about OLD coins. In a country where inflation is as bad as it is in.

Penny Coin 1793 ~ 1857

This is the size our "penny" was from when it was first minted in 1793 until 1857. We call it the "Large cent", although I don't imagine they called it that back then. Large, as opposed to what? Hmm, I wonder how the Romans dated their coins in the years "B.C."?

Aluminum Coin

The coins above are older than the brass ones, and are made of aluminum. Groszy (GRO shy) means "peas". There were 100 groszy in a zloty. It was an impossibly small unit of money even when these coins were new! If you bought a book of matches with a zloty, you got some groszy as change. The larger 10 zlotych and 20 zlotych coins were made of a more durable alloy, like our nickels.

Front L.E.U

It came from Communist Romania in 1966!

Back L.E.U

Wouldn't you know I'd find a coin with a tractor on it?! It is a one leu piece, about the size of our quarter.

Back On Eagle

You didn't expect my coin collection to be complete without some coins from Poland, did you? I know, this is supposed to be about OLD coins. In a country where inflation is as bad as it is in Poland, every generation or so they lop off a few zeros from the ends of all their denominations and start all over again. This renders all of the previous coins pretty much useless, so they get thrown away. The 1960's and 1970's are the oldest I could find. Aren't these eagles beautiful!
The monetary unit is the Zloty. There should be a line through the l to make it sound like a w. (see it on the last 3 aluminum coins?) The o is pronounced like our o in "for", the y like our y in "rhythm". So the word is "ZWO ty". It is the adjective form of the word "gold" (the first coins pictured are made of brass) So, one zloty is "one golden". The plurals get complicated: 2, 3, or 4 are zlote, "ZWO te". And 5 or more are zlotych, "ZWO tyck" (the ck is like the ch in "loch")

Front On Eagle

Now! I want you to notice something. A lot has changed in the past twenty years. Sure, inflation has eroded the value of the old zloty, and now it has been revalued. But notice the crown is BACK on the eagle, just like it was in the old days. Look further! The very NAME of the country has changed. In the communist days it was "Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa" (Polish Republic of the People). Now, it's "Rzeczpospolita Polska" (Republic of Poland). The paper money used to have pictures of politicians on it; now it features the ancient line of KINGS!!
Dzieki Bogu!!!