A matrix used to produce counterfeit banknotes during World War II has been discovered during renovation work at one of Warsaw's most famous banks.

The device was found concealed beneath wooden flooring inside the National Development Bank (BGK) building in the city center and had most likely been there since wartime.

Featuring the mirror image of a one zloty banknote, the lithographic plate had been created on a perfectly flat slab of marble measuring 18 by 19 centimeters.

According to the bank's historian, Radoslaw Milczarski, the banknote had been drawn onto the stone using greasy ink or crayon and would have allowed for high-quality copies.

However, the matrix lacks several notable anti-counterfeiting elements, such as background guilloché patterns.

It is likely, therefore, that those using it would have had access to pre-printed paper that already featured watermarks and intricate guilloché patterns, a telltale indicator of a highly complex operation requiring multiple people.

Among other things, the discovered matrix features inscriptions that include 'Bank Emisyjny w Polsce' (Bank of Issue in Poland) and Jeden Zloty (One Zloty), and a series number dating it from an issue of notes that was made in 1940.

Even then, however, one zloty would not have bought much more than two loaves of bread or a kilo of butter.

Despite this, counterfeiting such small denominations would have been fruitful given that such notes would be far less likely to be detected.

says Radoslaw Milczarski.

Who might have used this exact matrix, though, has baffled historians, with some theorizing it could have been used by PWB/17/S, a sophisticated forgery cell operated by what would later become Poland's Home Army.

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WWII-era matrix used to counterfeit banknotes discovered in Warsaw bank(https://tvpworld.com/86040312/wwii-era-matrix-used-to-counterfeit-banknotes-discovered-in-warsaw-bank)