View source for Poland 1923 50 marek KM-Pn242

[[Image:SB0123-24029o.jpg|300px|thumb|Stack's Bowers 2023 NYINC sale, lot 24029]]
[[Image:SB0123-24029r.jpg|300px|thumb]]

This specimen was lot 24029 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $90,000. The catalog description<sup>[1]</sup> noted, <blockquote>"Unique Gold 50 Marek Pattern, Pedigreed to the Farouk Collection, [[Poland|POLAND]]. Second Polish Republic. Gold 50 Marek Pattern, 1923. Warsaw Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN-63. A unique treasure of the Second Polish Republic, this gold Pattern delivers a stunning beauty in this most unusual of gold compositions. Devasted by years of tumult and conflict, Poland sought financial stability in the interbellum period. The Polish Mark (plural declension Marek), was introduced into circulation by the German occupation authorities in 1916. After the Great War an independent Poland kept that Mark as its currency, though hyperinflation rocked the currency. This Pattern denomination represents one of the last examples of Polish coinage denominated in Mark, before the currency was abandoned for the Zloty in 1924.

<p>This pattern was also produced in compositions of bronze and silver, with mintages of 120 and 12 respectively. Examples of these compositions are themselves quite elusive and seldom surface, making this example in gold a RARITY of the highest order. The specially struck surfaces deliver intense visual appeal, with a soft reflectivity that bounds from the surfaces. Only the slightest wisps of friction are noted, and there are no knocks or marks to be seen. A stunning example, and one that is assured a plethora of bids. From the Anthony J. Taraszka Collection. Ex: Triton IV (12/2000) Lot #2894. Ex: Swiss Bank Corporation (01/1987) Lot #1282. Ex: King Farouk Collection."</p></blockquote> This pattern, along with a fifty marek, was also struck in bronze and silver. We don't know what the ''marek'' was supposed to be worth but the name likely derived from the German mark. No gold coinage was struck until 1925, when ten and twenty zlotych appeared. Poland lost her independence in 1939, not to regain it until the collapse of Communism in 1989.

''Recorded mintage:'' 1 in Gold. 

''Specification:'' gold.

''Catalog reference:'' KM-Pn242; Kop-2754 (R*); Par-P117c.

''[[Bibliography|Source:]]''
* Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, ''Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed.,'' Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
* <sup>[1]</sup>Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, ''The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection,'' Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.

''Link to:''
* [[Poland 1922 100 marek KM-Pn243]] pattern
* [[Poland 1923 20 groszy]]
* [[Poland 1923 50 groszy]]
* [[Poland 1924 2 zlote]]
* [[Poland 1925 10 zlotych]] gold
* [[Poland 1925 20 zlotych]] gold
* [[Coins and currency dated 1923]]

[[Category:Selections from the Stack's Bowers 2023 NYINC sale]]