Description and research notes
Blank paper stock prepared for the 1926 10 Zlotych issue, classified by PMG as Watermarked Paper.
This piece represents the base security paper manufactured for the early interwar 10 Zł notes before the final design was printed. It bears the undated watermark reading 'Bolesław Chrobry 10 ZŁ' (Milczak type), positioned diagonally across the sheet and visible when held to light. The watermark references Bolesław Chrobry, Poland’s first crowned king, whose image symbolized strength and continuity in the newly reborn Republic.
This undated '10 ZŁ' watermark became the standard form for circulation and differs from the much rarer experimental '992–1025' dated watermark used on Pick 65br remainders. The plain watermarked paper such as this is considered an intermediate stage between the 1926 trial materials and the fully issued 1929 Pick 69 notes, which adopted the same watermark in mass production.
Surviving examples are scarce because most unprinted sheets were consumed or destroyed during printing tests at the Bank Polski’s security works in Warsaw. A handful were preserved as reference stock or acquired by collectors from institutional disposals in the 1930s. Today, these pieces offer direct insight into the technical process of watermark standardization in the Second Polish Republic.