Timeline

• 10.01.1765
• Installation of a minting commission by king Stanislaw III. August to revise the Polish coinage. It recommended a reform based on the Bavarian-Austrian Coinage Convention of 1753; effective 01.01.1766 (legislated retroactively on the 1766 session of the Polish parliament):
  - Silver: 10 Thalers of 8 Złoty to the to the Cologne mark fine silver (Złoty = 2'923.20mg AG fine)
  - Gold: 67 Ducats of 16¾ Złoty to the Cologne mark gold 23⅔ carats (Ducat = 3'441.91mg AU fine; Złoty = 205.49mg AU fine).
• 31.01.1787
• Parliamentary resolution on the change of the gold-to-silver ration; effective 01.03.1787:
  - Silver: 83½ Złoty to the to the Cologne mark fine silver (Złoty = 2'800.67mg AG fine)
  - Gold: 67 Ducats of 18 Złoty to the Cologne mark gold 23⅔ carats (Ducat = 3'441.91mg AU fine; Złoty = 191.28mg AU fine).

Timeline

• 01.12.1815
• JD:19.11.1815
• Coinage law on the alignment of the Polish and Russian coinage standards, the base weight remained the Cologne mark; effective 01.01.1816
• 27.10.1832
• JD:15.10.1832
• Coinage law on the redefinition of the Polish coinage standard based on the Russian pound; effective 08.02.1833 (JD:27.01.1833) by the mint instruction of this day.
• 02.02.1841
• JD:21.01.1841
• Currency law on the adoption of the Russian Ruble at 3 Rubel = 20 Złoty; effective 13.01.1842 (JD:01.01.1842) by the implementation law of this day.
• 12.05.1847
• JD:30.04.1847
• Demonetization of the Polish coinage

Valuation Regimes

• 1815-1842
• Metallic currency based on circulating silver coins, additional gold coins without nominal rate against silver. Base weight was the Cologne mark / 16 Lot / 18 Grän at 233.856 grams (1815-1832) and the Russian pound / 96 Zolotnik / 96 Doli at 409.512 grams (1833-1915).

Timeline

• 1914-1918
• German-Austrian occupation:
  - 09.12.1916: Ordinance [No. 222] of the "Warsaw General Command" on the establishment of the Polish State Loan Bank as issuing institute for the occupied territories of the currency; effective upon the constitution of the bank on 13.12.1916
  - 09.12.1916: Ordinance [No. 223] of the "Warsaw General Command" on the creation of the currency to be issued by the State Loan Bank, which was to circulate beside the German and Russian money; effective 13.12.1916
  - 14.04.1917: Ordinance [No. ??] of the "Warsaw General Command" on the demonetization of the German and Russian moneys at a rate of 1 German Reichsmark = 1 Polish Mark and 1 Russian Ruble = 2.16 Polish Mark; effective 26.04.1917.
• 07.12.1918
• Law [No. 56] on the recognition of the Polish State Loan Bank as issuing institute and the Polish Mark as currency of the independent Polish republic; effective immediately
• 05.02.1919
• Presidential decree [No. 174] on the creation of a currency Lech / 100 Groszy (without any details, which are mandated to the minister of finance); not implemented
• 28.02.1919
• Law [No. 230] on the creation of a currency Złoty / 100 Groszy (without any details, which are mandated to the minister of finance); effective 05.03.1919 but not implemented.
  - 26.09.1922: Law [No. 740], amending the 1919 law, specified the Złoty to be equal to the French Franc in gold (at 3'100 pieces to the kilogramm gold 0.900); not implemented.
• 26.03.1919
• Law [No. 245] on the partial withdrawal of the circulating paper money in German, Austrian, and Russian currencies; effective 17.04.1919 but not implemented:
  - Per person a maximum of 2'400 German Reichsmark, 1'500 Russian Rubles, or 3'600 Austrian Crowns were overprinted and remained current
  - Excess cash amounts were to be converted into state debt certificates.
• 26.11.1919
• Law on the demonetization of the German currency in the former Prussian territories at a rate of 1 German Reichsmark = 1 Polish Mark (which did not correspond to the market valuation of about 1 : 2); effective immediately
• 15.01.1920
• Law [No. 75] on the establishment of the Polish Mark as currency in all parts of the country; effective immediately
  - The rate to the Austrian currency was set to 100 Austrian Crowns = 70 Polish Mark
  - The withdrawal and exchange of the Austrian paper money was effected 16.04.1920 - 26.04.2020.
• 29.04.1920
• Law [No. 216] on the demonetization of the Russian currency; effective immediately
  - The rate to the Russian currency was set to 100 Russian Rubles = 216 Polish Mark
  - No exchange of Russian paper money was foreseen, the law just confirmed the previous rating of debts and loans.

Valuation Regimes

• 1916-1924
• Variable rate

Timeline

• 11.01.1924
• Law [No. 28] on the creation of the Złoty in the standard of the French Franc in gold (resuming the earlier laws of 1919 and 1922); effective 14.04.1924 by presidential decree [No. 351] which also specified the transition.
• 20.01.1924
• Law [No. 75] on the establishment of the Bank of Poland as central bank; effective upon constitution of the bank on 28.04.1924
• 23.04.1924
• Start of currency exchange:
  - 23.04.1924: Start of issuance of the new banknotes and coins
  - 30.06.1924: Demonetization of the former currency.

Valuation Regimes

• 1924-1936
• Fixed rate against gold
• 1936-1939
• Fixed rate against US Dollar

Timeline

• during 1939
• Demonetization of the Polish currency in the annexed territories
  - Germany: until 09.12.1939 at a rate of 1 German Reichsmark = 2 Polish Złoty (subsidiary coinage was tolerated until 30.11.1940)
  - Soviet Union: until ??.??.1939 at a rate of 1 Soviet Ruble = 1 Polish Złoty
  - Lithuania: until ??.??.1939 at a rate of 1 Lithuanian Litas = 5 Polish Złoty.
• 11.09.1939
• Ordinance of the Supreme Command of the German army on the legal tender status of the Polish Złoty and the German Reichsmark in the occupied Polish territories; effective immediately
• 23.09.1939
• Ordinance of the Supreme Command of the German army on the establishment of branch offices of the Reichskreditkassen in the occupied Polish territories; effective with opening of 15 branch offices on 02.10.1939
  - 02.04.1940: Ordinance on the closure of the Reichskreditkassen in the "General Government of the occupied Polish territories" and handover to the Issuing Bank.
• 15.12.1939
• General governor's ordinance on the establishment of the "Issuing Bank for Poland" as currency institute for the occupied territories; effective upon the banks constitution on 08.04.1940
• 10.01.1940
• General governor's ordinance on the demonetization of Polish paper money of 500, 100 Złoty; effective 31.01.1940:
  - The notes could be deposited at branch offices of the Reichskreditkassen on 22.01. - 31.01.1940.
  - The notes of 100 Złoty were stamped and re-issued afterwards based on an ordinance of 29.01.1940.
• 08.04.1940
• Start of currency exchange in the "General Government of the occupied Polish territories":
  - 08.04.1940: Start of issuance of paper money by the Issuing Bank denominated in Złoty (referred to as "Cracovian Złoty" after the Issuing Bank's main office)
  - 23.04.1940: Start of issuance of subsidiary coins (restruck from Polish dies)
  - 30.05.1940: Demonetization of the Polish currency and the occupation currency issued by the Reichskreditkassen.

Valuation Regimes

• 1939-1945
• Fixed rate against German Reichsmark

Timeline

• 06.01.1945
• Prsidential decree [No. 2] on re-introduction of the Polish currency and the withdrawal of the occupation notes; effective immediately
• 10.01.1945
• Start of currency exchange:
  - 10.01.1945: Start of issuance of the new banknotes
  - Partial confiscation: Per person a maximum of 500 Złoty were exchanged on par, excess cash was invalidated
  - 28.02.1945: End of exchange period, demonetization of the occupation notes.

Valuation Regimes

• 1945-1950
• Variable rate, highly inflationary

Timeline

• 28.10.1950
• Law [No. 459] on the currency reform; effective immediately
• 30.10.1950
• Start of currency exchange:
  - 30.10.1950: Start of issuance of the new banknotes and coins
  - 08.11.1950: Demonetization of the former currency
  - Deposits and liabilities were exchanged at differentiated rates between 1 : 100 and 3 : 300.
• 11.02.1957
• Creation of a non-commercial (tourist) rate at 1 : 24 against US Dollar, which became the de facto exchange rate with hard-currency economies
  - 01.04.1978: Creation of the variable "Valuta Złoty" at, initially, 1 : 33.20 against US Dollar, which devaluated to 1 : 80 until 1982, when it became the effective rate for most of the transactions.

Valuation Regimes

• 1950-1960
• Fixed rate against gold, de facto against Soviet Ruble (1947), parallel rates after 1957
• 1961-1981
• Fixed rate against gold, de facto against Soviet Ruble (1961), parallel rates
• 1982-1989
• Variable effective rate, the official rate was restriced to selected govermental transactions, therefore practically inoperative
• 1990-1991
• Fixed rate against US Dollar
• 1991-1994
• Variable rate, highly inflationary

Timeline

• 07.07.1994
• Law [No. 386] on the currency reform; effective 01.01.1995
• 01.01.1995
• Start of currency exchange:
  - 01.01.1995: Start of issuance of the new banknotes and coins
  - 31.12.1996: Demonetization of the former currency.

Valuation Regimes

• 1995-
• Variable rate