A sought-after, beautiful and graphically interesting banknote issued by the Bank of Poland in exile.
The denomination printed at Thomas De La Rue & Co.Ltd in London.
Issue condition.
Natural Piece.
On September 1, 1939, the Republic of Poland was attacked by German troops. Despite putting up resistance, the Polish army succumbed under the onslaught of the armies of Nazi Germany attacking simultaneously from the north, west and south. In addition, on September 17, Poland was attacked by Soviet troops occupying the eastern lands of the Republic. The Polish government did not sign the capitulation, evacuating to Romania where it was interned. Along with him, the authorities of the Bank of Poland left the country, taking with them gold, securities, assets, a stock of paper money and matrices for printing them. Saving Polish gold was important for the continuation of the Polish Bank's issuing activities.
The first headquarters of the Polish Bank in exile was Paris. In mid-1940, after the capitulation of France, the Polish state authorities with the army and the bank evacuated to Great Britain. The government and the Polish Bank authorities resided in London. One of the Bank of England's branches in London remained the temporary headquarters of the Polish central bank. In exile, the Bank of Poland did not issue money, even intended for the pay of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. It limited its activities to closing transactions begun before the war, securing its own assets and preparing to resume operations upon its return to the country after the end of the armed conflict.
Already after arriving in Paris in 1939, the authorities of the Bank of Poland took up the question of preparing the printing of banknotes that were to be put into circulation in the country after the end of hostilities. The decision to prepare a new issue was made in early November 1939 jointly by the management of the Bank of Poland and representatives of the Treasury Ministry. The banknotes designed in France were anti-dated. The date of August 15, 1939 was placed on them.
The designs were prepared in early 1940. However, the occupation of France by the German army interrupted work on the realization of the new Polish banknotes. On June 11, the Bank of Poland was evacuated to England. Preparatory work continued on the spot. The printing of these denominations was entrusted to two English paper mills. The 1, 2 and 5 zloty denominations were made by the Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. printer, New Malden, Surrey. The others, meanwhile, were made at Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd. in London. Printing was completed in early 1943.
