National Bank of Poland introduces a new banknote

Last week, the National Bank of Poland introduced a new banknote in the value of 500 PLN. The new payment instrument will have the greatest value among the banknotes that are printed for Polish people and institutions. In the wallets of Poles there are already notes in the value of PLN, 20 PLN, 50 PLN, 100 PLN and 200 PLN.

The new banknote will be printed by Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych SA, just as all the other notes. On the front side, it will bear the image of Jan III Sobieski, king of Poland between 1674 and 1696. The remaining banknotes bear images of Polish monarchs as well. On 10 PLN there is Mieszko I, on 20 PLN – Bolesław Chrobry, on 50 PLN – Kazimierz Wielki, on 100 PLN – Władysław Jagiełło, and on 200 PLN – Zygmunt I Stary.

The National Bank of Poland maintains the new payment instrument will allow to bring down the cost of emitting national currency. It was introduced mostly with the needs of financial institutions in mind. Keeping large sums of money in physical form will become easier as they will take much less space. As to Polish consumers, paying for pricey goods will become easier as well.

Opponents of the new development argue banknotes of substantial value are attractive from the point of view of criminals and are used for black market transactions. Proponents, on the other hand, indicate there are many European and world currencies with much greater value. For example, the euro banknotes range from 5 to as much as 500 EUR. 500 PLN, on the other hand, is worth around 115 EUR.

National Bank of Poland is the sole issuer of legal tender in Poland. All PLN banknotes have recently been modernised to meet the latest security standards. The modernised security features include watermark, security thread, colour-changing ink, microlettering, iridescent ink and UV marking.