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Obverse of 1835 Russian Poland 10 Zloty
Obverse of 1835 Russian Poland 10 Zloty

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Reverse of 1835 Russian Poland 10 Zloty
Reverse of 1835 Russian Poland 10 Zloty

A Brief History of Poland
Poland was first formed as a Kingdom under Mieszko I in c.962 A.D. He converted to Christianity soon after and Poland gradually became a Catholic state.
During the Middle Ages, the Polish Kingdom was constantly fighting Lithuanian Pagans in the East. However, when the Polish King invited the Teutonic Knights in to help them in their struggle against the Pagans, this led to several centuries of conflict with the order and with the Germans in general.
The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed in 1569, and in many ways was a country with an advanced system of government, with an elective monarchy and central and local assemblies. In practice however, this Commonwealth was still dominated by the nobility.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was destroyed as a nation state in 1795, and its former territories divided were between Austria, Prussia and Russia.
Poland re-emerged as a nation in 1918 following the Russian Revolution. The Second Polish Republic successfully resisted Russian Bolshevik attempts to re-conquer Poland in 1921, and this Polish Republic lasted until Hitler’s invasion and conquest in 1939.
Following World War II, Poland was reconstituted, but with its territories pushed slightly westwards (losing territory to Russia but gaining some at the expense of the defeated Germany). Due to the Soviet Occupation, Poland fell under the control of a puppet communist regime, which lasted until the collapse of Soviet power in 1989.

Coinage of Poland
The Zloty (meaning ‘golden’ in Polish) is a unit of currency dating back to the Middle Ages, initially used to refer to various foreign coins used in circulation in the area at that time and valued at 30 Groszy (Groats). Inflation gradually saw the Zloty reduced from a gold coin to a silver coin.
The Zloty survived the partition of Poland until 1850, when the Russian Empire decreed that the Polish Zloty should be replaced with the Russian Rouble, later replaced by the Marka by the Germans occupying the Polish area during World War One.
A Zloty-based coinage re-emerged in 1924. This Zloty was subdivided into 100 Groszy. This Zloty was replaced by the Germany Reichmark at two Zlote to the Mark following the German invasion and occupation during World War II. As the Soviets advanced, the Reichmark denominated currency was replaced by the Lublin Zloty, used until 1950, when it was replaced by the Third Zloty at 100 old Zlote to the new Zloty.
The current, fourth, Zloty was introduced in 1995, but the Polish government has committed itself to joining the Euro in the years to come, whether this will happen in the wake of the recent Eurozone crisis remains to be seen.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from Poland please see our product index:-
Poland Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from Poland on our taxfreegold website:-
Poland Gold Coins


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