Hobbies And Interests
Bronze Coinage
Poland's bronze coinage consists of 1, 2, and 5 grosz coins made of a hardened bronze called steel bronze. The coins' obverse bears the country's name along the rim, surrounding a heraldic eagle with the date below the eagle. The 1 grosz has a serrated edge, a reverse with a single leaf above the value, a 15.5 mm diameter and weighs 1.64 grams. The 2 grosz has a smooth edge, a reverse with two leaves above the value, a 17.5 mm diameter and 2.13 grams weight. The 5 grosz has an edge alternately smooth and serrated, a reverse with five leaves below the value, a 19.5 mm diameter and weighs 2.59 grams.
Cupronickel Coins
Poland has four minor coins made of a silver-gray cupronickel (copper-nickel) alloy bearing the same obverse design as the bronze coins. The 10 grosz coin has an edge alternately smooth and serrated, a reverse with the value within encircling leaves, a 16.5 mm diameter and weighs 2.51 grams. The 20 grosz has a serrated edge, a reverse with the value inside a square of leaves, an 18.5 mm diameter and weighs 3.22 grams. The 50 grosz has a serrated edge, a reverse with a semicircle of leaves to the left of the value, a 20.5 mm diameter and weighs 3.94 grams. The 1 zloty coin has an edge alternately smooth and serrated, a reverse with the value enclosed in a circular wreath, a 23 mm diameter and weighs 5 grams.
Bimetallic Coins
Poland's 2 zloty and 5 zloty are bimetallic coins with a ring of one metal surrounding a center core of a different metal. The obverse of both coins has the country name and minted year in the ring and the Polish eagle in the core. The 2 zloty coin has an aluminum-bronze ring surrounding a cupronickel core, with a smooth edge, a reverse with the value in the core and a design of the value and two leaves in the ring, a 21.5 mm diameter and weighs 5.21 grams. The 5 zloty has a cupronickel ring and aluminum-bronze core, a milled edge, a reverse with the value in the core and ring design of the value and five leaves, a 24 mm diameter and weighs 6.54 grams.
Commemorative Coins
Poland each year issues non-circulating gold and silver coins for collectors that commemorate noteworthy persons and events. The 2011 commemorative program as of April released coins depicting the endangered European badger, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Polish Independent Students' Union, and honoring Polish painter Zofia Stryjenska. Issues announced in April will mark the beatification of Pope John Paul II and the anniversary of the 2010 plane crash in Smolensk that killed Poland's president.