The Hungarian forint

Why the name points to Florence

Florence minted gold coins called fiorino d'oro from 1252. Hungary took up a gold coin of its own under Charles Robert in 1325, first called the florentinus and later the forint. The name came back between 1868 and 1892 as the Hungarian word for the Austro-Hungarian gulden, which was divided into 100 krajcár.

How the forint replaced the pengő

Hyperinflation destroyed the pengő in 1945 and 1946. Wikipedia's account puts it down to heavy reparations owed to the Soviet Union, Soviet removal of Hungarian industry and the holding of Hungary's gold reserves in the United States. The coalition parties disagreed. The Smallholders and the Social Democrats wanted outside support. The Communist Party, backed by the Soviet Union, opposed Western loans and drew up a stabilisation built on domestic resources alone.

The forint arrived on 1 August 1946 with its value set in gold: 13,210 forints to one kilogram of fine gold. One forint equalled 200 million adópengő, a tax unit that circulated beside it until 30 September 1946. Against the pengő itself the theoretical rate was 4×10²⁹ to one. All the pengő notes still in circulation were worth less than 0.2 fillér together.

What the banknotes carry

The Hungarian National Bank issued 10 and 100 forint notes in 1946. A new series in seven denominations from 200 to 20,000 forints came in gradually between 1997 and 2001, each with a historical figure on the front and a related place or scene on the back. All share one size, 154 by 70 mm, on white cotton paper made by the Diósgyőr Paper Mill and printed by the Hungarian Banknote Printing Company.

The 200 forint note went in 2009. Inflation had eaten its value, and the portrait on it, meant as King Charles Robert, of whom no authentic likeness survives, turned out to show an acquaintance of the designer. A bimetal 200 forint coin replaced it on 15 June 2009.

The bank reissued the remaining six denominations in a redesign by György Pálinkás, from the 10,000 forint note in circulation on 1 December 2014 to the 500 on 1 February 2019. Ferenc Rákóczi II is on the 500, Matthias Corvinus on the 1,000, Gábor Bethlen on the 2,000, István Széchenyi on the 5,000, Saint Stephen on the 10,000 and Ferenc Deák on the 20,000. Worn notes are shredded and pressed into briquettes, which go to charities as heating fuel.

Where the fillér went

The hundredth of a forint, the fillér, is gone from circulation. Production of the 2 and 5 fillér coins stopped in 1992 and every fillér coin had been withdrawn by 1999. The 1 and 2 forint coins stayed legal tender until 29 February 2008. Since then shops round a cash total to the nearest 5 forints.

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank issued its current 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 forint coins in 1993. A bicolour 100 forint replaced the first one in 1996, and from 1 October 2019 the Hungarian Mint has struck it in copper alloy instead of steel, with the design unchanged. Protected wildlife appears on several: a great egret on the 5, the Hungarian iris on the 20, a saker falcon on the 50. The 200 shows the Chain Bridge, which citizens voted for. Coins minted up to 2011 read Magyar Köztársaság and later ones Magyarország. Both are legal tender.