Proudly I present new Polish commemorative 2 zlotys coins. Made of brass composition, called "Golden Nordic", price in National Bank of Poland (NBP): 2 zlotys (about $0.75), on market $0.90, in catalogue $1.35. The first is with Kwidzyn castle (historical cities in Poland series) issued on Jan the 6th, second with gray balitic seal (wildlife series), issue on Jan the 17th with collectors silver coin, denomination 20 zlotys. For more information please see: www.nbp.pl
That Kwidzyn coin looks very nice - and so do quite a few others in that Historic Cities series. (By the way, that alloy is called "Nordic Gold" in English.) One question though: As they are issued at face value, are these circulating commems, ie. do they actually occur in circulation? Christian
No. It is strange for me: 2 złotys commemorative coins ( 30-40 types issued every year!) have officialy circulating coins status. They are much bigger than our standard bimetalic 2 zl coins, they are more heavy... and I`ve never seen them in circulation. The only way to catch them with denomaition price is making change in bank. The coin looks great, but this time I can`t be a patriot and I think that "Old Cities of Russia" bimetalic series is better.
I am not sure where your city is in relation to Krakow, but I visited Krakow last March and loved it. I want to go back to Poland. It was a real challenge because most people did not speak English - I got by with some German sometimes and some sign language. I did buy a set of uncirculated Polish coins from a dealer. I could not get new paper money though - I wanted some of that. I don't even see it on eBay - it seems to be tough to come by. When is the euro coming in? It will be tragic to lose the Polish coins and currency, but it is "progress" I suppose. (I was living in Germany for ther euro conversion, and I really missed the marks after they were gone). In regard to coins, Poland was a bit like Germany in the uro years. No "old" coins - only coins from the most recent conversion. I think in Poland the oldest coin I saw was 1992. I like the 1 zl - a handy coin.
Gliwice is where the staged "Polish" (actually SS) attack of a radio station started WW2 ... nowadays it may be better known for its GM/Opel plant. And, as for Poland and the euro, fear not. They are about as close to introducing it as the UK and China are. Do I miss the German mark? No. But then again I live on the Rhine (in NW), and Belgium and the Netherlands are fairly close. So having the common currency is very "tangible" for me in everyday life. Christian
Strange ... and also a pity, since they actually are very nice. The Russian Cities series I don't really know, but I have a couple of "Polish Voivodeship" coins (the previous series, I think). And the city coins do (in my opinion) have more interesting designs: neat city views instead of arms or seals. :thumb: Christian
As someone who has a Polish heritage (my mother's side, both grandparents), thank you for sharing! :thumb:
Gliwice is a quarter of million inhabitants city 110 km west from Kracow. Now I`m sitting about half km from famous radiostation where German provocation took place. Dear friends, belive me: we, the simple Polish people, don`t want euro. We know, that people of Deutschland, Greece and Italy received with euro a kick in..., so we wouldn`t like to get the same. First new Polish coins were produced in 1990, but first year of circulation was 1995. First Polish banknotes from 1990 were melted - they had not enough protection.
I got a good collection of Polish coins (more than 150 types). They are far better than the Euros.. Some of the Euro coins look quite barren and bereft of any life in them, for me..
Well, I am in Germany, and I for one am quite happy about and with the euro. But as I wrote, my opinion is of course also influenced by the fact that I had to use German marks, Dutch guilders and Belgian franks before. I also appreciate the fact that crossing a "border" around here is like crossing a state line in the US. Other people may have different views of course. But, unlike a couple of years ago, pretty much everybody in the European Union now knows that the division into euro countries, ERM-II countries and those that do not have anything to do with the euro is there to stay. The currency union is in my opinion not terribly stable anyway, so the Council and the Commission are certainly not interested in enlarging "Euroland" unless the countries in question (a) meet the criteria and (b) actually want to join. Think of Lithuania where the government even complained last year when the country was not admitted into the currency union yet. Just like Sweden - which is theoretically obliged to join but is not interested in joining - I am sure that Poland can stay out as long as the country wants to. I am a little "torn" here: From a practical point of view I certainly like being able to use the same money no matter whether I am in DE, NL, FR, etc. As a coin collector I prefer variety of course. Then again, I do of course not collect euro coins only. Christian
People in Poland friendly with foreigners, even Russian. Just not try to speak Russian to them, even though a lot understand it. I guess it like going France and speak English.
Christian, I realize that euro is more useful for you. I had on mind the prices. Poeple from Poland born before 1975 speak Russian. Some of them hate Russian as the occupants, but I`m sure that blame is only Kreml, not people. Generaly we like strangers because we are wonder of the world and another cultures. However, don`t you think that 40 types of 2 zlotys coins per year is little to much?
Well, that was kind of odd. In some areas (e.g. restaurants) the cash changeover was indeed used for price hikes in early 2002. Many other products/services were not or hardly affected, but people tend to compare prices of what they buy almost every day. At least here in Germany the difference between what is called "felt" or "perceived" inflation ("everything is twice as expensive as before") and the actual inflation rates (even a little less than in the last D-Mark years) was enormous at that time. That is pretty much indeed. Since you can get them at face value, a complete collection would not be awfully expensive, but still quite a lot. (About 20 euro or 26 dollars per year, for that series alone.) Hehe, you could instead collect the German States series - one €2 piece every year (not counting different mintmarks) but the program will run until the year 2021 ... Guess that I would not collect the entire series of Polish Cities coins. What is nice, however (apart from the neat designs), is that people can say, this coin shows "my" city, and maybe get a couple of pieces for themselves, for friends and relatives, etc. If there was a coin featuring my home city, I would certainly do that. Christian
That's good advice. I did hear from some students that many are taking Russian again for business purposes. I also understood that many older Poles speak German due to the occupation during WWII. I don;t speak any Russian, can speak some German, and English. It was still a challenge, especially off the tourist path. I found a coin store but the owner spoke NO English, and why would he I guess - his was not a tourist business. But I saw some uncircualted sets and could point to one.
I don`t know why the brass composition is called in Poland "golden nordic", but I have last news: the first Polish 2 zloty coin with king Zygmunt August became very expensive last time. The top price on auction was more than 900 zlotys = $ 300.00!!! Our collectors went mad! And one more new: last time somebody discovered 100 zl/1988 with Jadwiga the queen coin variety. At the left bottom should be small monogram SW. Standard coin with SW costs $1.00, without SW "only" $260.00 and the price is still rising up.
