Pieniądz „nowej Polski” księdza Piotra Ściegiennego. Rewolucje a pieniądz w XVIII i XIX wieku

Abstract

Researchers have been working on the topic of the XIX century Polish currency for decades now. They have been interested in both notes and coins. The complicated fate of Poland – which either did not exist on the map of Europe of that period or was shown as a quasi-state of the Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1815), the Kingdom of Poland (1815–1830) – till the November Uprising, the episode of the Free City of Cracow (1815–1846) and later as partition zones – was reflected in notes and coins. Those issued during Polish national uprisings played a special role. They influenced attempts to introduce and restitute currencies by state authorities that were then coming into being. This ideological trend includes the project of establishing currency for “New Poland” by the conspirator, socialist-utopist Rev. Piotr Ściegienny (1801–1890). It is worth mentioning that he was not only the hero of uprising or national liberation addresses, but also the author of a unique at that time (mid-XIX c.) vision of social, religious, economic changes in the Polish society. The face values of the designed coins were to be similar to those used earlier in the territory of the Kingdom of Poland. Due to the disintegration of the organization “Związek Chłopski” and lack of a possibility of starting a new uprising, Piotr Ściegienny’s currency for the utopian “New Poland” was never issued.