On 27 June 1978 air force pilot Mirosław Hermaszewski lifted off aboard Soyuz 30 and became the first Pole in space. Less than four months later, on 12 October, Poland released a 20 złotych coin in honour of the flight.

The reverse shows a cosmonaut’s helmeted head in profile with the legend PIERWSZY POLAK W KOSMOSIE INTERKOSMOS-78, the first Pole in space. The reverse was designed by Ewa Olszewska-Borys, the obverse with the communist-era eagle by Józef Markiewicz-Nieszcz.

The mission flew under the Interkosmos programme, with Hermaszewski as flight engineer and Pyotr Klimuk in command. They spent almost eight days aboard the Salyut 6 station and carried out 11 experiments. Hermaszewski was the 89th person in space and, until his death in 2022, the only Pole ever to reach orbit.

The mintage was 2,008,900. F-VF condition: the coin has circulated and relief wear is visible, but the helmeted profile and the legend are legible. For a space-themed collection this is the key Polish piece: at the time the country had no other national cosmonaut.

A collectable coin from VPcoins can be an addition to your own collection or a meaningful gift.