FAO - 1971 Poland 10 Z question

Craton

A dear friend of mine sent it to her as a gift. Sherry teaches the childbirth education class at the hospital and breast feeding is very important to the health of a newborn. I told my friend that I was looking for this coin and he sent me one.
I shared this on the WINS mailing list and had someone ask me if this was a TEST coin because "It has inscription of a test coin
(in Polish “PROBA” with accented O)"
Anyone know anything about this coin and the "proba" question?

Silvereagle82

How funny you ask!
I just recieved one today that I bid on at ebay.
I'm also trying to find the history behind the coin.
A member "stork" has this coin as her avitar.

I found it funny that most people I showed it to today could not make out the image.

Craton

Does yours have the "proba" on it as well? I recieved mine from a man who had probably one of the largest collections of FAO's. He wanted to write a book on them but his age has caught up with him and he is selling his collection off. He said that it wasn't a valuable coin but it is hard to find. He also said that it's KM number - KM PR185 was strange because it has a "PR" on it and it's not a proof coin.

Silvereagle82

Yes its just like yours.

gxseries

Proba means pattern in both Polish and Russian.

I'm guessing it's one of those coins that made it into public release. Some coins don't pass the proba test and hence no prototypes were made after such tests.

Craton

<< <i>Proba means pattern in both Polish and Russian.

I'm guessing it's one of those coins that made it into public release. Some coins don't pass the proba test and hence no prototypes were made after such tests. >>



What's strange is that I did some googling of the word "proba" and there are a lot of Polish coins that have this on them.

Kurt4

As I understand it, "Proba" coins were rejected coin designs that were released for collectors. The one you have has 2 versions.

KM Pr185 1971 51,000 minted,copper-nickel,

KM Pr186 1971 500 minted,Nickel

Both are FAO, baby nursing.

secondrepublic

Yes, this coin never made it into circulation. These are selling in Poland for around $5 each for the version that's mintage 51,200, so they're not expensive (though maybe they're scarce over here).

Apart from the infant with breast design, there was also a different type of pattern made for circulation that year, with a mintage of 51,800.

The coin struck that ended up being struck for circulation was a third type of 10 zl. 1971 with a fish design, struck in cupronickel with a mintage of 2 million.

I should add that Poland during the communist period really went overboard selling proba (pattern) coins. Many have mintages in the tens of thousands and there are a
lot of different types. Since the early 1990s, the spigot has been more or less closed. Before World War II, the patterns were typically struck in mintage of 100 or less each.

1jester

Just for your info, "proba" is pronounced like 'proo-bah' with the accent on the first syllable and a slightly trilled r.

Silvereagle82

What does the "FAO" & "FIAT PANIS" interpret in to English.

cladking

<< <i>What does the "FAO" & "FIAT PANIS" interpret in to English. >>



FAO is UNese for Food and Agricultural Organization, I believe.

Many FAO coins were released worldwide in the '70's and '80's. Many were made
for circulation and it's beginning to look like a few weren't very heavily saved.

Craton

Thanks for all of the great info folks.

1jester

Anytime, sir! Please drop by more often.

Craton

<< <i>Anytime, sir! Please drop by more often.

>>



Thanks, I will! I usually hang out in the OF - it's fun over there.

Stork

They do come up on ebay reasonably often... Linkage