200 zł Elections of 4 June 1989 - The Polish Road to Freedom

On the twentieth anniversary of regaining freedom, the National Bank of Poland presents a coin issued to commemorate the events that led to the turn of 1989 and those that strengthened the regained freedom.

This gold collector coin commemorates the first round of the elections to the Seym, in which the Solidarity opposition won a decisive victory.

At the top of the obverse there is an image of an eagle established as the emblem of the Republic of Poland. Below are stylized images of port cranes and a mine shaft. On the reverse side there is an outline of the figure with a raised hand with a sign of victory. In the background, there is a stylized image of a fragment of the Sejm's plenary session room and the people in it. 

In the elections of June 4, 1989, the public rejected by a majority vote the communist system imposed on it in 1944. This way they exercised their right to vote, won by "Solidarity", which was pushed underground in December 1981. No wonder that the symbol of "Solidarity" returns on commemorative coins many times. However, the creation of "Solidarity" was preceded by important events in which the will of social resistance was manifested, the nation gained experience and its leaders emerged. The Polish road to freedom is therefore made up of: an armed rebellion by the workers of Poznan in 1956, student protests in defense of freedom of speech and scientific inquiry in 1968, the workers' speeches on the Coast in 1970 in defense of decent living conditions and the riots in Radom, Ursus and many other places in 1976. A special role was played by the Catholic Church together with its highest leader, Pope John Paul II, whose election and subsequent pilgrimages to Poland strengthened society's self-awareness, elevated its efforts to a higher moral level and taught how to achieve collective goals without the use of violence.