50-grosz Polish People's Republic
This 50-grosz coin, while now it resembles as if it had a rough life and greater prospects ahead of it, still has something special in it. It is a coin from the communist regime, it's of aluminium, so very light, yet fragile, which is why it's in this form today. You can still notice the traditional wreath encircling the denomination and the remains of the eagle for those respective years, the uncrowned one, which clearly denotes the years it was manufactured. To everyone else, it serves as a reminder of yesterday when these coins were spent on a daily basis in the 1970s and 1980s when 50 groszy was sufficient to purchase something tangible, and not relegated to the status of nothing more than mere small change. It was money from ordinary people – a pensioner changing from the local shop, a child purchasing powdered orangeade, or a school child home from school with a pocket full of coppers.
One interesting fact is that this aluminium coin was one part of a wider 1957 monetary reform to make the system easier and reduce manufacturing complexity. Aluminium was selected for a reason – it was inexpensive, light in weight and easy to mint in large numbers, hence capable of satisfying the demands of the marketplace. In reality, the coins soon deteriorated, got scratched and lost their lustre, so nowadays there are only a genuine rarity to be found in any reasonable condition. The wreath motif represented the concepts of toil and fellowship at the time, which were attempted to be inscribed even on low-denomination banknotes by the government. The reverse bore the national eagle but without coronet – one of the most recognizable symbols of the time. Amazing how, amid the propaganda environment of the time, the coin designers were able to make the coins appear with some semblance of simplicity and good looks, which even now looks good if you do happen to have a specimen with it in reasonable condition.
Examining this coin itself, one cannot help but speculate about how many hands it passed and what tales it must have 'heard'. Maybe it was in the wage packet in the working man on his way to work, or in the shopping bag buying a cheese roll, or in the elderly lady's drawer saving her pennies till rent day. To the collector, it is no treasure so uncommon, but to someone who enjoys the scene of the good old days, it is a tiny reminder of mundane life, when money had value, although of thin aluminium. Now, these coins are dust in drawers or on the ground after many decades, but they all carry a little bit of Polish history with them that should be saved, even though it may be nothing but a rusty old piece of metal where the letters are barely readable.
