Actually, before in 1995 Polish government decided to cut four zeros in
the official currency and introduce the new zloty there were seventeen (!)
banknotes in different denominations (from 10 PLZ to 2.000.000 PLZ - no
coins were used).  As many as three of them featured composers:

1) Fryderyk Chopin - 5.000 PLZ

2) Stanislaw Moniuszko - 100.000 PLZ (much revered in Poland as its
greatest opera composer he also wrote 'Conte d'hiver' Overture regarded
as the first major symphonic piece in the history of Polish music)

3) Ignacy Jan Paderewski - 2.000.000 PLZ (one of the highest paid musician
in history was on the highest denomination - wonder if it was a mere
coincidence).

I always wondered - has this number been ever surpassed elsewhere.

Mikolaj Kopernik was on 1.000 PLZ and Maria Sklodowska-Curie on 20.000 PLZ
and just to complete the picture Tadeusz Kosciuszko (participated in
American Independence War and had the highest mount in Australia named
after him) was on 500 PLZ and Henryk Sienkiewicz (Nobel Prize for 'Quo
Vadis') on 1.000.000 PLZ.

Sadly, the closest the new banknotes (which feature only Polish kings) get
to the music business is with the king Sigismund I the Old (200 PLN), known
to establish at the beginning of the 16th century at his chapel in Cracow
Poland's first professional music ensemble - the Rorantine Capelle.

You can see all those banknotes at the following address:

   http://www.t19.ds.pwr.wroc.pl/~einstein/banknoty/prl.html

As far as other countries are concerned:

In Austria they have Mozart (on 1000 schillings?), in Italy Bellini was I
think on 5000 L, but in Germany Clara Schumann is definitely on 100 DEM.

Are there actually 100 pound banknotes in Britain? I have only heard that
the only denomination above 50 pounds that the Bank of England issued this
century was a set of just few 1.000.000 pound (sic!) banknotes.

Pawel Kotla