Description and research notes
Unfinished print fragment of the 500 złotych issue dated 1 March 1940, produced for the Bank Emisyjny w Polsce under German occupation. Cut from a printer’s sheet, this piece is classed as 'makulatura' (waste print) in printing terminology, representing a rare survival of the production process. The obverse carries only two layers of underprint with a double application of series and serial number, but lacks the steel-engraved main design. In contrast, the reverse is fully completed as it would appear on a finished note.
Remarkably, this fragment is from Series B with numbering beginning with '2' (B 2048322). Among 500 złotych 1940 Series B notes, fully completed examples are not known with such numbering; documented emissions only run up to the 19xxxxx range. This anomaly makes the piece unique as evidence of experimental or aborted production runs.
The sheet fragment shows only minor folding typical of printing stock handling, without circulation wear. PMG has encapsulated the note as a descriptive 'Printing Remnant,' without assigning a numeric grade. For collectors, it represents an exceptionally scarce window into the production practices of the Kraków-based Emission Bank during WWII, combining technical rarity with serial-number research significance.
Reference: cf. Miłczak 98.