Description and research notes
A specimen of the Ministry of Finance 1 Zloty State Ticket dated 1 October 1938, bearing red diagonal WZÓR overprints on both sides and a vertical BEZ WARTOŚCI overprint on the face. The overprints form the principal visible specimen markings applied across the completed ticket design.
The face features King Boleslaw I the Brave within an engraved oval portrait medallion at right. The left ornamental panel incorporates the crowned Polish eagle, while the central field contains the denomination, Warsaw issue date, and the printed signatures of Minister of Finance Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski and Director of the Currency Circulation Department Wieslaw Domaniewski.
The specimen carries the printed number H1234567 in the central field and the additional printed number H0900000 along the lower margin. Both numbering elements are preserved together with the WZÓR and BEZ WARTOŚCI overprints as part of this specimen variety.
The reverse is centred on a large numeral 1 surrounded by dense geometric guilloche ornament and paired ZL denomination devices. A red diagonal WZÓR overprint crosses the reverse, corresponding with the WZÓR marking on the face. The paper incorporates the repeating horizontal 1 ZL watermark associated with the issue.
The ticket was designed by Leonard Sowinski, engraved by Marian Romuald Polak, and printed by Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartosciowych S.A. in Warsaw. Its production belongs to the final prewar phase of Polish state paper money and to the treasury-ticket programme introduced in response to a shortage of subsidiary coinage.
The circulation issue entered public use on 26 August 1939 and remained legal tender until 20 May 1940. This specimen preserves the complete ticket design, denomination-specific watermark, printed numbering, and the WZÓR and BEZ WARTOŚCI overprint configuration associated with this form of the issue.
As an archival object, it documents a specimen form of one of the final monetary issues prepared by the Polish state before the outbreak of the Second World War. The completed design beneath the overprints records the appearance and production characteristics of the 1938 1 Zloty State Ticket.