One of the rarest and most beautiful Polish banknotes of the 20th century.
Piece in specimen condition of PMG 66 EPQ. This is currently the highest grading for this type, and this banknote is the only one so highly graded to date.
The unrealized 1928 issue consisted of denominations of 10 and 20 zlotys, with the realization of the 20 zlotys probably not going beyond the stage of preparing designs. Currently, only this denomination is known in this form.
Banknotes from this issue, especially the 20 zloty, are extremely rare. Until recently, it was not even certain where they were printed. Implicitly, it was assumed that both denominations were printed in Switzerland. Only when the archives became public in recent years did it become clear that only the 10 zloty denomination was printed in Switzerland, while the 20 zloty was made in the English Thomas De La Rue factory.
It was only recently that the female portrait on the obverse was also deciphered (Robert Jadrych, Numizmatyk Krakowski No. 5/2022), identified as Sienkiewicz's Marynia Pławicka (later Pani Połaniecka) according to an illustration by Piotr Stachiewicz (1858-1938). In general, the entire 1928 issue turned out to be "Sienkiewiczian", as the 10-track depicted Oleńka Bilewiczówna from The Deluge, also according to the same artist.
A banknote of immense rarity. Known only from a few pieces and almost uncommon in private collections.
The rarity of the type is emphatically attested to by the fact that its entire population in PMG is only 4 pieces. And the uniqueness of this piece' s state of preservation is perfectly evident from the grade distribution, where three others are in PMG 63 (without EPQ) and only this one in PMG 66 EPQ.
A great item!
