Joseph Conrad was actually Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski - an English writer and publicist of Polish origin. Józef Korzeniowski was the son of the writer Apollon Korzeniowski. He went to France in 1874 and enlisted as a simple sailor. In 1894 he settled in England and devoted himself to writing; only a year later he published his first novel Almayer's Folly. When publishing abroad, he used the pseudonym "Joseph Conrad", which he created from his first names: Józef and Konrad.

Korzeniowski's outstanding work remains an isolated phenomenon in world literature, combining romanticism with positivism, symbolism with impressionism. 

The obverse of the coin depicts the image of an eagle established as the state emblem of the Republic of Poland. On its right side there is the ship "Otago", of which Korzeniowski was a captain, and an open book as a symbol of his later career. 

On the reverse side, there is an image of Joseph Conrad with the date of his birth and death.