Nicolas Copernicus – Poland’s Famous son

The face on the front of the banknote is that of the famous Polish son Mikolaj Kopernik aka Nicolas Copernicus.

Front : Poland 1982 1000 Zlotych

Back : Poland 1982 1000 Zlotych

Nicolas was born February 19, 1473 in Torun, Poland. Copernicus was a proponent of the theory that the Sun, and not the Earth, is at rest in the center of the Universe. His heliocentric system states that the Sun (not the Earth) is at rest in the center of the Universe, with the other heavenly bodies (planets and stars) revolving around it in circular orbits. This was considered implausible by the vast majority of his contemporaries and most astronomers. Strong theoretical underpinning for the Copernican theory was finally provided by Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravitation (1687).

On the reverse is the image of the heavenly bodies revolving aorund the sun.

The Polish currency is called ‘Zlotych’. The current exchange rate is about USD1 = 3.167 PLN (short-exchange notation for Zlotych). Btw, anyone, how do we pronounce this?