This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.
A rare example of an Mp1 note printed in 1919, when the name and structure of the new Polish state was still not certain and was thus used the neutral phrase Polish state20 fenigów coinMp10 and Mp20 from 1919
Obverse
Reverse
Mp100 note (1919)
The marka (alternatively mark; Polish: marka polska, abbreviated Mp, Polish-language plural declensions: marki, marek) was the temporary currency of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Republic of Poland between 1917 and 1924. It was subdivided into 100 Fenigów (phonetic Polish spelling of German "Pfennig"), like its German original after which it was modelled.
History
During World War I, in 1915, after defeating the Russians, the Central Powers occupied the whole territory of the former Congress Poland and appointed two Governors General: a German (Hans Hartwig von Beseler) in Warsaw and an Austro-Hungarian (Karl Kuk[de]) in Lublin. The civil administration of the country was laid into the hands of imported German (mostly Prussian) and Austrian (mostly Polish) officials. Four currencies circulated: the Russian ruble, the papiermark, the ostrubel and the Austro-Hungarian krone. On December 9 the following year, after consultations with the Austrians, the chief of the German Administration, Wolfgang von Kries[de] proclaimed the foundation of a new bank, called the Polish Loan Bank (Polska Krajowa Kasa Pożyczkowa) and the creation of a new currency unit, the Polish marka, equivalent to the German mark. The stability of the new currency was guaranteed by the German Reichsbank up to the amount of 1 billion marks.
In 1917 new coins (1f, 5f, 10f and 20f) and banknotes (Mp1⁄2, Mp1, Mp2, Mp5, Mp10, Mp20, Mp50, Mp100, Mp500 and Mp1,000) were introduced and started to replace all the previously used currencies. All the banknotes were white with the White Eagle of Poland on a red field. At the time of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, 880 million marks were already in circulation. The new Polish government decided to retain the marka as the national currency and to allow the Loan Bank to continue operating. The following year the German-made banknotes were replaced in circulation with new locally printed ones. These featured Polish historical motifs. The notes of Mp1, Mp20 and Mp500 depicted Queen Jadwiga, the notes of Mp5, Mp10, Mp100 and Mp1,000 depicted Tadeusz Kościuszko. A silver coin of Mp50 was planned but never issued due to the galloping inflation.
Poland, already devastated after 123 years of partitions, and by 5 years of war, now entered a series of armed struggles, which crippled the economy even more. In 1920, during the Polish-Bolshevik War, new banknotes of Mp1⁄2 with Kosciuszko and Mp5,000 with both the Queen and Kosciuszko came into use. There were now 5 billion marks in circulation. However, the following years the crisis deepened and by 1922 a period of truly ruinous inflation began. By then there were 207 billion marks in circulation. It was necessary to print notes of Mp10,000 and Mp50,000. At the beginning of the following year the inflation gained even more momentum and speed, and notes of Mp100,000, Mp250,000, Mp500,000 and Mp1,000,000 were introduced, only to be followed by notes of Mp5,000,000 and Mp10,000,000 later that year.
Early in 1924, financial reforms devised by politician and economist Władysław Grabski were instituted. The Bank Polski was proclaimed as the new central bank of Poland. The marka was exchanged for a new, gold-based currency, the złoty, at the rate of Mp1,800,000 to 1zł. One US dollar was then worth 5.18zł—or Mp9,324,000.
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