Artifacts from the times of the Polish People's Republic, stored in home drawers, are gaining value. This applies not only to housing savings booklets, which can yield up to 16,000 zloty, but also to circulation coins with minting errors and crystal tableware. The collector's market in 2026 shows growing interest in these items, resulting in significant price increases. The value of individual pieces depends on their rarity, condition, and sentimental significance.

Housing Savings Booklets with Payouts

Holders of PRL-era housing savings booklets or their heirs can apply for the payment of adjusted funds. The maximum payout can reach up to sixteen thousand zloty.

Boom in PRL Coins

Circulation coins from the PRL period, especially those with minting errors or missing mint marks, are sought after by collectors. Prices for single specimens can reach several thousand zloty.

Trend for Retro Crystals

Crystal vases, figurines, and tableware produced in PRL times have become collector's items. Their value, like that of coins, is rising with growing interest in retro design.

Conditions for Realizing Value

The financial value of these items is conditioned by their rarity, state of preservation, and, in the case of housing booklets, the correct completion of formalities.

Many Polish households still store items and documents from the times of the Polish People's Republic, which have transformed from sentimental keepsakes into a potential source of income. Housing savings booklets come to the forefront. Although their original function disappeared with the political transformation, the funds accumulated in them, after accounting for revaluation regulations, can be paid out to current holders or heirs. Sources indicate that the payout in extreme cases can reach up to sixteen thousand zloty. This process, however, requires contacting the legal successor of the former institutions, most often Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, and completing the necessary formalities.

Simultaneously, the collector's market is developing dynamically, where PRL-era circulation coins are gaining increasing value. It's not about their face value, but about so-called minting errors. Coins struck without the proper mint mark or with other technical defects are true rarities. Collectors are willing to pay several thousand zloty for them, with the price depending on the rarity of the specific specimen and its condition. The famous five-zloty coin featuring a fisherman, minted in the late 1950s, is one of the most recognizable, but not the only sought-after numismatic item.

Housing savings booklets were introduced in the PRL in the 1970s and 1980s as a savings instrument in the shortage economy, promising an apartment allocation from the state pool in exchange for regular deposits. This system collapsed with the political transformation, and the issue of paying out the accumulated funds became the subject of multi-year legal regulations. Meanwhile, coin production at the State Mint was subject to strict norms, and specimens with errors, which should not have left the mint, today constitute white ravens for collectors. The collector trend in 2026 also includes other categories of items. Crystal products – vases, figurines, glasses, and tableware – which in PRL times were a symbol of domestic luxury and often served as gifts for important occasions, are gaining popularity. Currently, in an era of nostalgia for retro design, they are becoming coveted items at auctions and among collectors of artistic craftsmanship. Their value is determined by the quality of the glass, design, condition, and the manufacturer's brand.

Experts advise thoroughly searching home archives, old wallets, boxes in the attic, or even basements. Not only the mentioned categories but also old bonds, shares of pre-war companies, or commodity vouchers may prove valuable. For each of these items, professional verification is key: for documents – at a financial institution, and for coins and crystals – with a professional numismatist or antiquarian. The growing interest in PRL artifacts makes this market increasingly liquid, and information about record valuations motivates many people to sift through family heirlooms in search of hidden treasures.