2016-02-20 Sat

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first drop of the Cichociemni Paratroopers, a WW II special-operations unit of the Polish Army in exile, a beautiful coin was issued. The first group of the Cichociemni, or "Silent Unseen", were sent on a mission into German-occupied Poland from Britain, where they had been trained, on the night of 15th February 1941.

The face value of the coin is PLN 10 and the obverse designed by Urszula Walerzak depicts a paratrooper landing, while its reverse features the symbol of Fighting Poland and 316 birds, the number corresponding to the total number of the Cichociemni who were secretly parachuted into occupied Poland to join underground resistance units.

Three of these birds are placed on the outer ring of the coin. They symbolize the three members of the unit who parachuted into Poland 75 years ago.