Editing Polish złoty (section)

===First złoty===
[[File:Denar miejski Toruń Kazimierz Jagiellończyk.jpg|thumb|right|A 15th-century ''[[denarius|denar]]'' featuring the [[Coat of arms of Poland|Polish white eagle]], minted in [[Toruń]]]]

The first form of tangible currency in Poland was the [[denarius]] (''denar''), which began circulating in the 10th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Krajewski |first=Mirosław |date=2000 |title=Historia gospodarcza Polski do 1989 roku |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kWOaAAAAIAAJ&q=pierwsz%C4%85%20polsk%C4%85%20monet%C4%85%20denar%20grzywna |publisher=Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna |page=39 |isbn=978-83-911136-0-8 |language=pl}}</ref> During this period, Polish coinage had a single [[face value]] and was minted from [[bullion]] (primarily silver, but also compounded with copper and other precious metals).<ref>{{cite book |author=Grzegorz Wójtowicz |author2=Anna Wójtowicz |date=2003 |title=Historia monetarna Polski |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ry6sAAAAIAAJ&q=denar%20%20jeden%20nomina%C5%82 |publisher=Twigger |page=39 |isbn=978-83-88904-29-5 |language=pl}}</ref> The standard unit of [[mass]] used at the time was the [[grzywna (unit)|grzywna]] rather than the [[Pound (mass)|pound]], with one grzywna being equivalent to 240 denars.<ref>{{Harvnb|Krajewski|2000|p=39}}</ref> From the 1300s to the mid-16th century, the [[Prague groschen]] (or groat) dominated the market and its high supply reduced the demand for a national currency across [[Central Europe]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Adam Dylewski |author2=Katarzyna Kucharczuk |date=2012 |title=Od denara do złotego. Dzieje pieniądza w Polsce |volume=1st Edition |location=Warszawa (Warsaw) |publisher=CARTA BLANCA Sp. z o.o. Grupa Wydawnicza PWN |page=45 |isbn=978-83-7705-206-8}}</ref> Certain cities and autonomous regions of the Polish Kingdom held the privilege of minting their own currency, for instance the [[shilling]] (''szeląg'') in the [[Duchy of Prussia]], which Poland co-adopted in 1526.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/slownik/szelag |title=Szeląg |date=n.d. |website=Wirtualny Sztetl |publisher=POLIN |access-date=30 October 2021 |language=pl}}</ref>

Initially, the term "złoty" ({{lit|the golden one}}) was used in the 14th and 15th centuries for a number of [[Guilder|foreign gold coins]], most notably [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] [[ducat]]s, [[florins]] and [[Gold coin|gulden]]s. In 1496, the [[Sejm|Sejm parliament]] debated on the creation of a domestic currency and approved the złoty, which until then acted as a [[unit of account]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cpnbp.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/215552/bankoteka_dzieje_zlotego.pdf |title=History of the Złoty |author=Centrum Pieniądza |date=2018 |publisher=Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) |access-date=30 October 2021}}</ref> An exchange rate of 30 grosz was imposed for one gold piece, which remained the traditional subdivision until the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cpnbp.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/215552/bankoteka_dzieje_zlotego.pdf |title=History of the Złoty |author=Centrum Pieniądza |date=2018 |publisher=Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) |access-date=30 October 2021}}</ref> In the years 1526–1535, as part of an extensive monetary reform proposed by [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] and [[Justus Ludwik Decjusz|Justus Decius]], King [[Sigismund I the Old|Sigismund I]] defined the złoty as a legal tender in the minting ordinance on 16 February 1528.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dylewski |first=Adam |date=2011 |title=Historia pieniądza na ziemiach polskich |location=Warszawa (Warsaw) |publisher=CARTA BLANCA Sp. z o.o. Grupa Wydawnicza PWN |page=161 |isbn=978-83-7705-068-2}}</ref>

[[File:Złotówka 1766.jpg|thumb|right|Złoty coin featuring the profile of [[Stanisław II Augustus]], 1766]]

The Polish monetary system remained complex and intricate from the 16th to 18th centuries until a [[monetary reform]] enacted by [[Stanisław II Augustus]] which removed all other monetary units except the złoty, which was divided into 30 groszy. Polish currency was then linked to that of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] by setting the [[Conventionsthaler]] = 8 złoty = 23.3856 g fine silver and the [[North German thaler]] = 6 złoty = 17.5392 g silver (hence 2.9232 g silver in a złoty).

{{multiple images
| footer            = The [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] first issued złoty banknotes on 8 June 1794 under the authority of [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]]. The 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000 złotych are depicted above.
| width             = 50
| image1            = POL-A1a-Bilet Skarbowy-5 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
| alt1              = 5 Zlotych, first issue of 1794
| image2            = POL-A2a-Bilet Skarbowy-10 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
| alt2              = 10 Zlotych, first issue of 1794
| image3            = POL-A3a-Bilet Skarbowy-25 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
| alt3              = 25 Zlotych, first issue of 1794
| image4            = POL-A4-Bilet Skarbowy-50 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
| alt4              = 50 Zlotych, first issue of 1794
| image5            = POL-A5-Bilet Skarbowy-100 Zlotych (1794 First Issue).jpg
| alt5              = 100 Zlotych, first issue of 1794
| image6            = 1794Polish banknote-500zloty.png
| alt6              = 500 zloty 1794.
| image7            = 1000-1794zl..png
| alt7              = 1000zl 1794.
}}

Radical changes to the currency were made during the [[Kościuszko Uprising]]. The [[Second Partition of Poland|second partition]] of the vast [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] resulted in the loss of approximately 200,000 square kilometres of land and precipitated an economic collapse. The widespread shortage of funds to finance the defense of remaining territories forced the insurrectionist government to look for alternatives. In June 1794, [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]] began printing paper money and issuing first Polish [[banknotes]] as a substitute for coinage, which could not be minted in required quantities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cpnbp.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/215552/bankoteka_dzieje_zlotego.pdf |title=History of the Złoty |author=Centrum Pieniądza |date=2018 |publisher=Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) |access-date=30 October 2021}}</ref> These entered circulation on 13 August 1794.

The złoty remained in circulation after the [[Partitions of Poland]] and [[Napoleon]]'s [[Duchy of Warsaw]] issued coins denominated in grosz, złoty and talars, with the ''talar'' (thaler) of 6 złoty slightly reduced in value to the [[Prussian thaler]] of 16.704 g fine silver (hence 2.784 g silver in a złoty).<ref>{{cite book |last=Nadolski |first=Artur |date=2008 |title=Pani Chłodna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G0OCrG1cpooC |location=Warszawa (Warsaw) |publisher=Bellona |page=91 |isbn=978-83-11-11258-2}}</ref> Talar banknotes were also issued. In 1813, while [[Zamość]] was under siege, the town authorities issued 6 grosz and 2 złoty coins. Following the 1815 [[Congress of Vienna]], Austrian and Russian sectors of partitioned Poland continued to use the złoty for some time, while the [[Grand Duchy of Posen|German sector]] replaced the ''talar'' and ''złoty'' with the [[Prussian thaler]] and later, the [[German gold mark]].

On 19 November O.S. (1 December N.S.) 1815, the law regarding the monetary system of Congress Poland (in Russia) was passed, which pegged the złoty at 15 kopecks (0.15 Imperial [[rouble]]s, or almost 2.7 g fine silver) and the groszy at {{frac|1|2}} kopeck, and with silver 1, 2, 5 and 10 złotych coins issued from 1816 to 1855.

At the time of the 1830 [[November Uprising]], the insurrectionists issued their own "rebel money" – golden ducats and silver coins in the denomination of 2 and 5 złoty, with the revolutionary coat of arms, and the copper 3 and 10 grosz.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jan Głuchowski |date=2001 |title=Leksykon finansów |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJLwAAAAMAAJ&q=z%C5%82ot%C3%B3wki%20powstanie%20listopadowe%202%205%20z%C5%82otych |location=Warszawa (Warsaw) |publisher=Polskie Wydawn. Ekonomiczne |page=172 |isbn=978-83-208-1336-4}}</ref> These coins continued to be traded long after the uprising was quelled. As a consequence of the uprising, the rubel became the sole legal tender of [[Congress Poland]] from 1842, although coins marked as złoty in parallel with ruble were minted in Warsaw until 1865 and remained legal until 1890. In 1892, the [[Austro-Hungarian krone]] was introduced in [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Austrian Galicia]]. Between 1835 and 1846, the [[Free City of Kraków]] also used its own independent currency, the [[Kraków złoty]] (minted in [[Vienna]]), which remained legal until 1857.

During [[World War I]], the rouble and krone were replaced by the [[Polish marka]], a currency initially equivalent to the [[German Papiermark|German mark]]. The marka remained in use after Poland regained its independence in 1918, but was extremely unstable, disrupted the whole [[economy of Poland|economy]], and triggered [[galloping inflation]].