Is this what a thousand zloty banknote should look like? We explain

At the end of October, the attention of many users of the X website was caught by a graphic depicting the design of a new one-thousand zloty banknote. It shows the likeness of the last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski.

“!!Urgent!! The National Bank of Poland has informed that Stanisław August Poniatowski will appear on the PLN 1,000 banknote. 'It is not people like Batory or John Paul II who deserve this noble distinction, but Poniatowski. After all, it was during his times that the constitution was introduced,' says Adam Glapiński” – October 23, 2024 he gave one of the users of website X who published the alleged banknote design (original spelling of all posts). His entry has been viewed 418,000 times so far. times.

The alleged design is somewhat reminiscent of banknotes currently in circulation. At the top there is the inscription “RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA”, below we see: “WARSAW May 27, 2017”.

On the right side there is an image of Stanisław August Poniatowski. He is dressed in a coronation costume. Next to the portrait there is an inscription “Stanisław August Poniatowski 1732–1798”. On the right side of the banknote, the inscription “Poczet Królów Polskich” was added, turned by 90 degrees. In the upper right corner and lower left corner there is a large number “1000”, next to it there is “THOUSAND ZŁOTYCH”. In the center of the banknote there is an eagle in a crown surrounded by a decorative ornament – the same eagle, but without the ornament, is found on the obverse of coins in circulation. Below there are also the inscriptions “PRESIDENT” and “TREASURER”, but there are no signatures of people performing these functions. On the left side there is a decorative monogram of Poniatowski, SAR (Stanislaus Augustus Rex) with a crown. Below the monogram there is the series and number of the banknote “AA 0000001”.

Many users commented on the post with the alleged banknote design. Some people criticized the NBP's choice to put the image of Stanisław August Poniatowski on the new banknote. “A controversial choice to say the least”; “Poniatowski is a traitor who supported Targowica. A coward like no other, a footstool of the Tsarina. Ha ffu!”; “A cool role model, he sold the Republic of Poland for his lover. It seems that his contemporaries want to justify their betrayals in this way,” they commented.

Others focused on the issue of a larger denomination. “Soon one such banknote will be the entire salary”; “Drama”; “I would be more worried that in a few years there will be banknotes of 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000,” they commented. “PLN 500 is a denomination that we don't often hold in our hands, and what, they predict super inflation by introducing PLN 1,000?”; “This is a joke right?”; PLN 500 is almost invisible in circulation, and who needs PLN 1,000?” – outraged Internet users asked. Let us remind you: currently the National Bank of Poland emits circulation banknotes in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 zlotys.

Not everyone believed the popular message. “It's a fake because it can't be true”; “Neither urgent nor true. The decision to introduce a 1,000 zloty banknote has not been made, and in addition, the National Bank of Poland wants a woman to appear on the banknote with this nominal value,” they wrote.

We checked whether work is actually underway to introduce a 1,000 zloty banknote into circulation and whether the graphic circulating on the Internet is an official design of the National Bank of Poland.

The author of the popular entry quotes the alleged words of the President of the National Bank of Poland, Adam Glapiński, which are supposed to justify the choice of Stanisław August Poniatowski for the banknote: “It is not people like Batory or John Paul II who deserve this noble distinction, but Poniatowski. After all, it was during his times that the constitution was introduced.” . Meanwhile, no reliable Polish media or news agencies reported Glapiński's words or similar ones.

Meanwhile, during the discussion, the author of the popular post himself admitted to manipulation. “I know, I posted it just for fun, and you can see the context under the post, so there's no need for a comment,” he said.

Where could the message that the image of Stanisław August Poniatowski will appear on the new banknote come from? In mid-October this year some Polish Information portals reminded that the possible date of introducing a new one thousand zloty banknote into circulation is approaching. In January 2021, Adam Glapiński for the first time announced possibility issue of a thousand zloty banknote. He did not mention which Polish ruler might be included there. Only in subsequent statements from that year he postulated so that the image of a woman – Queen Jadwiga of Anjou – appears on the new banknote. He emphasized then that this was his private view and the final decision would be made after consultations.

After Glapiński's words in January 2021, Krzysztof Kowalczyk, deputy director of the Issue and Treasury Department of the National Bank of Poland, cooled down the mood. “This announcement should be treated as an intention to examine the advisability of justifying the introduction of such a banknote into circulation” – he explained in January 2021 on Polskie Radio 24. “We are not working on this project for now, but somewhere around 2025-2026 there is a possibility that such a banknote denomination will appear in circulation.” – he pointed out.

Were the words of President Glapiński followed by actions in 2021? The response from the NBP press office shows that no. The office told us that “The NBP has not and is not currently working on a new circulation banknote and there are no such plans“.

Let's return to the design of the thousand zloty banknote used in the popular post.

It turns out that the banknote design can be purchased on Allegro. We found it in the “copies and facsimiles” category at least two offers with this pattern. One of the archived offers she concluded in May 2019, almost two years before President Glapiński's first announcement about the possibility of introducing a new banknote into circulation.