A long-running series from the National Bank of Poland, ‘Enduring Soldiers Accursed by the Communists’ is a celebration of the freedom fighters that gave their lives fighting the Soviet Union immediately after the end of the Second World War. Today sees the issue of the 17th coin in the series – Zygmunt Szendzielarz ‘Lupaszka’.

Each half-ounce sterling silver coin depicts the soldier on its reverse face, and nothing has changed for this issue. The source material is often photographs of the period, and the mint tends to do a fine job with the likeness as a result. The coin is struck to a proof finish with some small colour highlighting, and the obverse carries that neat Polish national eagle.

One of the most impressive things about this series are the detailed histories that the bank provides in its media pack, and we’ve reproduced it in full, not just for Lupaszka, but for all the coins to date, in our up-to-date Coin Series Profile of the range. The stories are well worth a read, spotlighting a brutal, and little-known struggle, which goes some way to explaining Poland’s current stance about Russia. Available to order now.