Poland 100 Zloty 1973 Kopernic Proba Nickel Copernicus

 

Poland 100 Zloty 1973 Kopernic Proba Nickel Copernicus  

 PATTERN coin - VERY RARE - mintage only 500 pcs.

In Poland, rejected coin designs are often minted in quite large numbers as trial or pattern coins for sale to collectors. These coins have the word PROBA on them, usually stamped incuse.

A very unique and rare kind of PROBA coins are struck in nickel and strictly limited to 500 coins. The nickel patterns collection is comprised of 388 coins from the years 1949-1994 and includes the complete set of rejected coin designs, as well as all copies of coins from official circulation which were originally struck in other alloys. Coins struck in nickel were not available to the general public. Of the 500 pieces struck, 250 pieces were distributed among members of the Polish Numismatic Society and the other 250 pieces were distributed between branches of the Polish National Bank and museums.