Poland 10 Zlotych 2012 Cooperative Banking in Poland

150 Years of Cooperative Banking in Poland Obverse: On the left, an image of the Eagle, established as the state emblem of the Republic of Poland. Below the Eagle, an inscription: 10 ZŁ. Above the Eagle, along the rim, the notation of the year of issue: 2012, and an inscription: RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA (Republic of Poland). On the right of the Eagle, a stylised image of a fragment of the building of the Cooperative Bank in Brodnica. To its right, perpendicularly, an inscription: BRODNICA. At the top and at the bottom, spatially stylised rectangles. The Mint’s mark, MW, under the Eagle, on the right. Reverse: In the centre, stylised images of banknotes and coins. Above, an inscription: 1862. Below, an inscription: 2012. On the left, an inscription: BS. On the right, in semicircle, in a separate plane, stylised images of human silhouettes holding hands. Along the rim, an inscription: 150-LECIE BANKOWOŚCI SPÓŁDZIELCZEJ W POLSCE (150 years of cooperative banking in Poland). On the left, at the top and at the bottom, spatially stylised rectangles. The idea of financial self-help had evolved in Poland since the 15th century. In 1577 Rev. Wawrzyniec Białobrzeski set up the Ostrołęka Cheap Loan Foundation. The 16th century also saw the formation of religious banks offering interest-free loans out of a pool of donations of the faithful and guaranteed by forfeits. In Poland typical credit unions began to emerge out of the need to protect interests of small farmers and artisans against competition from the large-scale capitalist industry. In 1861 the Poznań Industrial Society established (the first in Poland) the Loan Society for Industrialists from the city of Poznań. The Polish cooperative movement was launched in the Gdańsk Pomerania when the Loan Society for Industrialists from the town of Brodnica was created in 1862, and in the Upper Silesia when the Lending Society for the Zawadzkie district and its neighbourhood was established in 1869. The Cooperative Bank in Brodnica – a successor and beneficiary of the Loan Society for Industrialists from the town of Brodnica – was created by local activists who wished to protect home-grown entrepreneurship, as well as the Polish language and culture. The WWII wreaked havoc on the economic fundamentals and many outstanding cooperative activists did not stay alive to the end of the war in 1945 After the year 1989 nearly two thirds of almost 1660 cooperative banks failed to meet the requirements of the new economic conditions. At present around 570 cooperative banks – affiliated in two banking groups – meet the regulatory requirements applying to credit institutions in Poland.