Currency of Hungary
Szálasi puppet government (1943-44)
one thousand pengő
This example is catalog number P-116 and is 184 × 100 mm. It was dated 24 February 1943 and demonetized 14 June 1945. Numista comments, "[This] Series of banknotes were printed in Veszprém by the evacuated Szálasi government and circulated in the Nazi-ruled part of Hungary in 1944." Wikipedia comments, "Szálasi's collaborationist government, with its authority limited to the city of Budapest and its environs, only lasted 163 days....The People's Tribunal in Budapest found him guilty of war crimes and high treason, and sentenced him to death. He was executed by hanging on 12 March 1946."
Russian occupation (1944-45)
fifty pengő
This example is catalog number P-M7 and is 181 × 87 mm. It was released in 1944 and demonetized 28 February 1946.
one hundred pengő
This example is catalog number P-M8 and is 187 × 99 mm. It was released in 1944 and demonetized 28 February 1946.
hyperinflation (1945-46)
Numista comments,
"Postwar inflation series (1945–1946)
After the war the new democratic government suffered from serious lack of money, so it ordered the national bank to manufacture banknotes quickly and cheaply. There was little time to design new notes, so the plates of banknotes printed in 1926 were reused (compare the 50, 100, 1,000,000 and 100,000,000 notes with the 50, 100, 20 and 10 pengő notes from the 1926 series, respectively) as well as portraits from other notes (e.g. compare the 500 pengő note with the 500,000 korona note and the 100,000 pengő note with the 2 pengő note from 1940). Beginning with the 1000 pengő note, only denominations of integer powers of ten were used. The uncontrolled issue of banknotes aggravated inflation.
In December 1945, the government tried (and failed) to bring inflation under control by a one-off capital levy. This meant that the 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 pengő banknotes had to be overstamped with a stamp that could be bought for 3 times the value of the banknote. Unstamped banknotes were worth a quarter of their nominal value after this campaign. Later the 100,000 pengő note was issued again in different colors – this banknote and higher denominations did not fall under the capital levy. Although there were plans to issue 10 billion (1010) pengő notes (similar in design to the 1946-version 10 Ft note), denominations higher than one billion were renamed milpengő (which stands for million pengő) and the indicated value was reduced by a factor of one million. The next denomination after the one billion pengő note became the 10,000 milpengő, which was equal to ten thousand million pengő, and had a similar design to the 10,000 pengő note. The aim was to ease everyday money handling and accounting as well as to reuse the designs of earlier banknotes with little changes.
After the one billion ("milliárd") milpengő note, a new abbreviation had to be used, since further higher denominations were necessary. This became the b.-pengő, which stands for billion pengő; where billion is on the long scale (i.e. - one million million, or 1012 pengő, rather than the short scale 109, which is "milliárd" in Hungarian). The designs were reused again with changes to the color and the addition of the "B" prefix. The highest printed denomination – the one billion ("milliárd") b.-pengő (i.e. - 1021 pengő) note – was never released into circulation, but is widely recognized as the highest-denomination government-backed note ever printed."
hundred pengő (102 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-111 and is 183 × 97 mm. It was dated 5 April 1945, and demonetized 6 May 1946. It depicts king Matthias Corvinus on the obverse and Buda castle on the reverse. Unlike later denominations, this has the series and serial number in red on the obverse.
thousand pengő (103 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-118b (the "b" indicating the addition of a tax stamp) and is 185 × 90 mm. It was dated 15 July 1945, and demonetized 6 May 1946. It was designed and engraved by Franke Rupert and Helbing Ferenc. Unlike later denominations, this has the series and serial number in red on the reverse.
ten thousand pengő (104 pengő)
The first example is catalog number P-119 and is 178 × 80 mm. It was released July 15, 1945, and demonetized 31 July 1946. It was engraved by Franke Rupert and Helbing Ferenc. Unlike later denominations, this has the series and serial number in red on the reverse. It also comes with adhesive validation stamps.
The second example is catalog number P-119b, with a tax stamp added.
hundred thousand pengő (105 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-121 and is 177 × 80 mm. It was released October 23, 1945 and demonetized 31 July 1946. The portrait is of Valéria Rudas, an ordinary farmer girl from the village of Bény, wearing traditional "Palóc" costume at right, engraved by Endre Horváth. Unlike later denominations, this has the series and serial number in blue on the reverse.
million pengő (106 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-122 and is 169 × 83 mm. It was released November 16, 1945, and demonetized 30 July 1946. The portrait is of Lajos Kossuth at right, engraved by Helbing Ferenc; the reverse is titled "At the Shore of Lake Balaton", engraved by Géza Mészöly.
10 million pengő (107 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-123 and is 180 × 85 mm. It was released November 16, 1945, and demonetized 30 July 1946. The portrait is of Lajos Kossuth at right, engraved by Endre Horváth.
100 million pengő (108 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-124 and is 158 × 78 mm. It was released March 18, 1946, and demonetized 30 July 1946. It was engraved by Endre Horváth and Helbing Ferenc. It was the highest denomination note to bear a serial number.
milliard pengő (109 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-125 and is 174 × 84 mm. It was released March 18, 1946, and demonetized 30 July 1946. The portrait of Lucia Lendvay, an average girl from Szekesfehervar, was engraved by Endre Horváth.
ten thousand milpengő (1010 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-126 and is 171 × 82 mm. It was released April 29, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946. It was engraved by Franke Rupert and Helbing Ferenc. The denomination milpengő meant one million pengő. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 10,000 pengő (P#119) notes.
hundred thousand milpengő (1011 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-127 and is 180 × 82 mm. It was released April 29, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946. The portrait is of Valéria Rudas, an ordinary farmer girl from the village of Bény, wearing traditional "Palóc" costume at right, engraved by Endre Horváth. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 100,000 pengő (P#121) notes.
million milpengő (1012 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-128 and is 168 × 84 mm. It was released May 24, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946. The portrait is of Lajos Kossuth at right, engraved by Helbing Ferenc; the reverse is titled "At the Shore of Lake Balaton", engraved by Géza Mészöly. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 1 million pengő (P#122) notes.
ten million milpengő (1013 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-129 and is 180 × 84 mm. It was released 24th of May, 1946, and demonetized 30 July 1946. The portrait is of Lajos Kossuth at right, engraved by Endre Horváth. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 10 million pengő (P#123) notes.
100 million milpengő (1014 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-130 and is 159 × 79 mm. It was released June 3, 1946, and demonetized 30 July 1946. It was engraved by Endre Horváth and Helbing Ferenc. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 100 million pengo (P#124) notes.
1 milliard milpengő (1015 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-131 and is 174 × 84 mm. It was released June 3, 1946, and demonetized 30 July 1946. The portrait of Lucia Lendvay, an average girl from Szekesfehervar, was engraved by Endre Horváth. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 1,000 million pengo (P#125) notes. This banknote has a version with a brown adhesive stamp of “200 Milliard Pengő” affixed.
ten thousand B.-pengő (1016 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-132 and is 171 × 82 mm. It was released June 3, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946. It was engraved by Franke Rupert and Helbing Ferenc. The denomination B.-Pengő meant one billion pengő, i.e., 10^12. Thus, this denomination was for 1016 pengő. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 10,000 pengő (P#119) and 10,000 million pengő (P#126) notes.
hundred thousand B.-pengő (1017 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-133 and is 178 × 80 mm. It was released June 3, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946. The portrait is of Valéria Rudas, an ordinary farmer girl from the village of Bény, wearing traditional "Palóc" costume at right, engraved by Endre Horváth. The denomination B.-Pengő meant one billion pengő, i.e., 10^12. Thus, this denomination was for 1017 pengő. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 100,000 pengő (P#121) and 100,000 million pengő (P#127) notes.
million B.-pengő (1018 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-134 and is 165 × 83 mm. It was released June 3, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946. The portrait is of Lajos Kossuth at right, engraved by Helbing Ferenc; the reverse is titled "At the Shore of Lake Balaton", engraved by Géza Mészöly. The denomination B.-Pengő meant one billion pengő, i.e., 10^12. Thus, this denomination was for 1018 pengő. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 1 million pengő (P#122) and 1 billion pengő (P#128) notes.
ten million B.-pengő (1019 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-135 and is 184 × 84 mm. It was released June 3, 1946, and demonetized 30 July 1946. The portrait is of Lajos Kossuth at right, engraved by Endre Horváth. The denomination B.-Pengő meant one billion pengő, i.e., 10^12. Thus, this denomination was for 1019 pengő. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 10 million pengő (P#123) and 10 billion pengő (P#129) notes.
100 million B.-pengő (1020 pengő)
This example is catalog number P-136 and is 159 × 79 mm. It was released June 3, 1946, and demonetized 30 July 1946. It was engraved by Endre Horváth and Helbing Ferenc. The denomination B.-Pengő meant one trillion pengő, i.e., 10^12. Thus, this denomination was for 1020 pengő, the highest denomination ever used on a banknote issued for circulation. These notes were printed re-using the designs of the earlier 100 million pengő (P#124) and 100 billion pengő (P#130) notes.
10,000 Adópengő (10,000 "tax pengő")
This example is catalog number P-143a (with serial number) and is 136 × 82 mm. It was released May 28, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946. The obverse legend, "KÖZADÓK, KÖZÜZEMI DÍJAK ÉS EGYÉB SZOL-/GÁLTATÁSOK ELLENÉRTÉKÉNEK LEROVÁSÁRA/1946 ÉVI JÚLIUS HÓ 31. NAPJÁIG HASZNÁLHATÓ", translates as, "Tax voucher for 10000 tax pengő, To be used until 31st of July, 1946, for payment of debts of communal taxes, utility fees and other services." Numista comments, "Although originally intended to act as tax vouchers with a sliding exchange rate to the rapidly declining pengő, these notes were issued in large numbers and came to circulate as normal currency, largely replacing the pengő but also suffering from hyperinflation."
million Adópengő (million "tax pengő")
This example is catalog number P-140a (with serial number) and is 136 × 82 mm. It was released May 28, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946.
This example is catalog number P-140b (without serial number) and is 136 × 82 mm. It was released May 28, 1946, and demonetized 31 July 1946.
- Cuhaj, George S., Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Modern Issues 1961-Date, Volume Three, 10th Edition, Iola, WI: Krause Pub., 2004.
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