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Narodowy Bank Polski, Poland’s central bank, will issue 20 zloty polymer commemorative banknotes on February 9 to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus on February 19, 1473, with a limit of 100,000.
Although he is primarily known as an astronomer who put forward the then radical idea that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun, this note is part of his Great Polish Economists series. This is because Copernicus also studied economics. His Wikipedia entry describes him as a physician, classicist, translator, governor, and diplomat. In addition, he was an artist and canon of the Church.
The new predominantly blue bill (about $4.83) features a large bust of Copernicus on the obverse and four medieval Polish coins on the reverse. The portrait is the same as on the communist era 1000 złoty banknote issued from 1975 to 1996. The solar system has transparent windows.
The explanation for the appearance of the coin is simple. Shortly before April 1526, Copernicus wrote the Monete cudende ratio (“Treatise on the Minting of Money”), the final version of the treatise he first wrote in 1517. Leszek Signer of the Nicolaus Copernicus University describes this important work, which argues that the devaluation of money is one of the main reasons for the fall of the country.
According to Signer, Copernicus was the first to attribute the fall in the value of money to the fact that copper was mixed with gold and silver during the minting process. He also provides a detailed analysis of the devaluation process associated with the coinage of Prussia, the controlling power of the time.
He put forward six points: There should be only one mint in the whole country. When new coins are introduced into circulation, old coins should be withdrawn immediately. Coins of 20 20 groszy were to be made of pure silver weighing 1 pound, which made it possible to achieve parity between Prussian and Polish coins. Coins should not be issued in large quantities. All types of new coins must be put into circulation at the same time.
The value of a coin for Copernicus was determined by its metal content. Its face value must be equal to the value of the metal from which it is made. He said that when debased money is put into circulation while older, better money remains in circulation, bad money drives good money into circulation. This is known today as Gresham’s law or Copernicus-Gresham’s law.
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Post time: Feb-21-2023
