Polish Post's Musical Crypto-Postcard Collection "Postal Themes"

Updated on: May 9, 2023

On May 9th, Poczta Polska, in collaboration with Polish Radio, launched unique Cryptopostcards. Each design features postal motifs from the collection of the Museum of Post and Telecommunications in Wrocław. The graphic design is complemented by excerpts from patriotic works by Fryderyk Chopin, Mieczysław Karłowicz, and Michał Kleofas Ogiński. These NFT musical cards are the first of their kind in the world, available in a limited edition of 4,000 copies.

This pioneering project continues Poczta Polska's digital revolution. At the end of 2022, the company unveiled the First Polish Cryptostamps in four unique variants, reflecting the traditional values of the "Poland in Space" issue.

The inspiration for creating digital cards came from audio postcards, a type of gramophone record produced in Poland and the countries of the socialist bloc from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.

Crypto postcards designed by artist Agnieszka Sancewicz

The design of the first card token features a woodcut based on Timoleon Marie Lobrichon's 1883 painting, "New Year's Letter." The musical backdrop is an excerpt from Mieczysław Karłowicz's Serenade, Op. 2 for string orchestra, Movement I, March , performed by the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio, conducted by Agnieszka Duczmal. This musical work was created during the composer's studies in Berlin and is one of his early works. He composed it when he was just 21 years old. It is characterized by great finesse and melodicism and remains one of Mieczysław Karłowicz's most frequently performed pieces.

The design of the second token of the card features a woodcut reproducing Berthold Woltze's painting "At the Post Office Window," dating from 1884. The musical backdrop features an excerpt from Frédéric Chopin's Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1, arranged for orchestra by Grzegorz Fitelberg, performed by the Polish Radio Orchestra under the direction of Wojciech Rajski. Due to its solemn nature, this polonaise is often called the Military Polonaise. The beginning of the piece is the signal for Polish Radio Program I. During the September Campaign, Polish Radio broadcast this composition daily, symbolizing national protest and the mobilization of Poles.

The third token on the card features a woodcut by C. Linsenmayer with a drawing titled "The Son's Arrival on Christmas Eve" by Carl J. Arnold, created between 1886 and 1887. The musical backdrop features an excerpt from Michał Kleofas Ogiński's Polonaise in A minor, "Farewell to the Homeland," arranged by the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra in Warsaw, conducted by Włodzimierz Kamirski. This is one of the most famous polonaises, often opening proms and frequently featured in films, including Andrzej Wajda's "Ashes and Diamonds."

The fourth token of the card features an 1870 woodcut by Franciszek Kostrzewski titled "Letter from the Battlefield." The musical backdrop includes an excerpt from the first movement of Fryderyk Chopin's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in F minor, Op. 21, performed by the Polish Radio Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz. This is one of Fryderyk Chopin's two piano concertos – a work from his youth, inspired by his affection for Konstancja Gładkowska. The concerto premiered in March 1830 and was Chopin's first truly great concert, which left Poland forever eight months later.

The NFT music cards were proposed by Polish Radio. Each of the four crypto postcards was released in a limited edition of 1,000. The entire digital collection within the bundle guarantees the same ID numbers. Individual pieces or a complete bundle of four are also available for purchase.

Project authors: Agnieszka Sancewicz and Roch Stefaniak

Author of the technical solution: Dariusz Tyszka

About the First Polish Crypto Stamp

A crypto stamp is a traditional postage stamp, attached to a label with the public wallet address and the wallet's private key phrase, which contains the Crypto Stamp NFT token. Poczta Polska (Polish Post) has issued four categories of the First Polish Crypto Stamp, tied to the December "Poland in Space" issue. The company also introduced an additional stamp exclusively in the form of an NFT token, designed for the first time ever by artificial intelligence.

The Polish Cryptostamp collection also includes digital Philatelic Thalers, which are a special type of NFT tokens and enable preferential purchase or exchange for a digital version of the category 5 Cryptostamp (NFT).

The physical version of the Cryptostamps categories 1–4 is available at selected Polish Post offices and on the website filatelistyka.poczta-polska.pl . The digital version of the Cryptostamp can be "activated" and purchased on the website nft.poczta-polska.pl .

The Cryptostamp 2.0 collection plan will be presented soon.

The global expansion of the First Polish Crypto Stamp

According to current data, the dedicated website nft.poczta-polska.pl has already been visited by 130,000 people. The most frequent nationalities visiting our website are users from Poland, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Customers from France, China, Spain, Austria, and Ireland have also been added. 847 stamp albums have already been set up through the website for collecting digital postage stamps. In these albums, users can collect not only Polish Cryptostamps but also digital publications from other postal operators. 5,095 collectibles have already been collected, and this number is constantly changing and growing.

Also worth noting is the Kryptoznaczka server on Discord, a popular virtual collector community. It's a great place to share your passion and exchange ideas, as well as gain knowledge about the NFT market and the technical solutions of the Polish Kryptoznak. Poczta Polska also has over 6,000 subscribers to its Polish newsletter and over 200 to its English-language newsletter, which regularly delivers the most important news about Kryptoznak to all interested parties. The newsletter sign-up link: https://nft.poczta-polska.pl .

See: How to import the First Polish Cryptostamp token to your digital wallet?