As a member of the European Union, Poland is obligated to adopt the euro when all specific conditions are met, however there is no time limit for fulfilling all of them.

[8] During this period, Polish coinage had a single face value and was minted from bullion (primarily silver, but also compounded with copper and other precious metals).

[10] From the 1300s to the mid-16th century, the Prague groschen (or groat) dominated the market and its high supply reduced the demand for a national currency across Central Europe.

[11] Certain cities and autonomous regions of the Polish Kingdom held the privilege of minting their own currency, for instance the shilling (szeląg) in the Duchy of Prussia, which Poland co-adopted in 1526.

[14] In the years 1526–1535, as part of an extensive monetary reform proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus and Justus Decius, King Sigismund I defined the złoty as a legal tender in the minting ordinance on 16 February 1528.

The second partition of the vast Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth resulted in the loss of approximately 200,000 square kilometres of land and precipitated an economic collapse.

In June 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko began printing paper money and issuing first Polish banknotes as a substitute for coinage, which could not be minted in required quantities.

At the time of the 1830 November Uprising, the insurrectionists issued their own "rebel money" – golden ducats and silver coins in the denomination of 2 and 5 złoty, with the revolutionary coat of arms, and the copper 3 and 10 grosz.

During World War I, the rouble and krone were replaced by the Polish marka, a currency initially equivalent to the German mark.

The marka remained in use after Poland regained its independence in 1918, but was extremely unstable, disrupted the whole economy, and triggered galloping inflation.

[20] Following its inauguration, the second złoty was pegged to the United States dollar through a stabilization loan provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The złoty began to stabilise in 1926 (chiefly due to significant exports of coal),[22] and was re-set on the dollar-złoty rate 50% higher than in 1924.

Based on these developments, the Polish government made the decision to adopt the gold standard and maintain it for a significant period to attract global investors.

The first three series were taken out of circulation in line with legislation signed on 28 October 1950, covering the introduction of a new złoty with a revived coinage system.

[29] In 1950, the third złoty (PLZ) was introduced, replacing all notes issued up to 1948 at a rate of one hundred to one, while all bank assets were re-denominated in the ratio 100:3.

[26] Redesigned coins and banknotes were released featuring Polish monarchs, which were printed by De La Rue in London (until 1997) and PWPW in Warsaw (from 1997).

The obverse features the left profile of a Polish monarch clothed in armour or royal regalia; the sovereigns are arranged chronologically based on the period of reign.

Architectural elements comprising portals, columns, windows or flower motifs are scattered throughout each banknote, both on the obverse and on the reverse.

[34] The notes are adorned by the eagle charge from the Polish coat of arms, along with signatures of the President and General Treasurer of NBP – the National Bank of Poland.