90th Anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw, 20 zł

A silver collector coin struck using the pad printing technique to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw.

Obverse:
Józef Piłsudski in profile on the background of a map illustrating the movements of the Polish army between Otwock and Radzymin in 1920. On the right the coin’s face value – 20 zł – as well as the state emblem and a vertical inscription: RZEPOSPOLITA POLSKA 2010 (REPUBLIC OF POLAND 2010).

Reverse:
A figure of a Polish soldier with a gun; on the background a fragment of Miracle at the Vistula, a painting by Jerzy Kossak (on the coin depicted using paints in various shades of white, red, green, blue, brown and grey).

The Battle of Warsaw (also referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula) – a battle fought on 12–25 August 1920 during the Polish-Soviet war. Considered to be the 18 decisive battle in the history of the world as it prevented the loss of independence by Poland and the spreading of the Communist revolution to the Western Europe.

The historic significance of the Battle of Warsaw has not yet been fully acknowledged, both in Poland and in the Western Europe. The British ambassador in pre-war Poland, Lord Edgar Vincent D'Abernon, in the title of his book called it the eighteenth decisive battle of the world. In one of the articles published in August 1930 he said that the contemporary history of our civilisation had not seen many events which could compare to the Battle of Warsaw of 1920. And there has been none to be so underestimated... The victory of the Soviets in the Battle of Warsaw would be a turning point in the history of Europe: the defeat of Warsaw would undoubtedly mean opening the Central Europe to the Communist propaganda and to a Soviet invasion. It is the task of political writers to make known to the European public opinion that in 1920 Europe was saved by Poland.