Description and research notes
Original 500 złotych note of 1 March 1940 issued by the Bank Emisyjny w Polsce, Series A, serial A 1319803. Although the banknote itself is genuine, its serial falls within the 13xxxxx numbering range later associated with diversionary forgeries of the 500 złotych denomination. Together with the 12xxxxx sequence, these numbers became compromised by the appearance of counterfeit notes, making A 1319803 an extremely rare surviving original from a range subsequently targeted for withdrawal.
During the German occupation, forged 500 złotych notes were produced in Britain for the Polish resistance and introduced into occupied Poland as part of a diversionary operation. The counterfeit currency provided funds that could be used within the occupation economy while simultaneously undermining confidence in German-controlled money. Once the affected numbering was identified, Series A notes in the 12xxxxx and 13xxxxx ranges were ordered withdrawn regardless of whether individual examples were genuine or counterfeit. The measure removed authentic notes alongside the forgeries and explains the exceptional scarcity of genuine survivors carrying these serials.
A 1319803 documents an unusual consequence of that operation: an authentic Bank Emisyjny w Polsce banknote whose legitimate serial number became associated with clandestine wartime production. Certified PMG 15 Choice Fine, the note retains the characteristic design of the 1940 500 złotych issue, dominated by the portrait of a Góral highlander that gave the denomination its popular name, "Góral." As a genuine note surviving from the compromised 13xxxxx sequence, it provides direct material evidence of the point at which ordinary circulating currency, resistance activity and wartime monetary control intersected in occupied Poland.
Reference: Miłczak 98a.
