Hungarian korona
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| User(s) | Hungary |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | fillér |
| Symbol | K, kr |
| Coins | 1, 2, 10, 20 fillér, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 100 korona |
| Banknotes | 1, 2, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10 000, 25 000, 50 000, 100 000, 500 000, 1 000 000 korona |
| Central bank | Hungarian Royal State Note Issuing Institute |
| Printer | Orell Füssli (Zürich) Hungarian Banknote Printing Corp. (Budapest) |
| Mint | Hungarian Mint Ltd. |
| This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |
The Hungarian korona (Hungarian: magyar korona; korona in English is "crown") was the replacement currency of the Austro-Hungarian Krone/korona amongst the boundaries of the newly created post-WWI Hungary. It suffered a serious inflation and was replaced by the pengő in 1927.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
According to the Treaty of Trianon and other treaties regulating the situation of countries emerging from the ruins of the dissolved Austro-Hungarian Empire, the former banknotes had to be overstamped by the new states and - after a given transition-period - replaced by a new currency. In the case of Hungary, this currency was the korona, which replaced its Austro-Hungarian counterpart at par. Hungary was the last country to fulfil the replacement obligation of the treaties, and the stamps used for overstamping were very easy to copy, so a big portion of the common currency circulated in Hungary. This was a factor contributing to the process which finally led to a serious inflation. Finally, in 1927, the korona was replaced by the pengő at 12 500 korona = 1 pengő rate.
[edit] Coins
Körmöcbánya (today: Kremnica, Slovakia), the site of the only mint of Hungary (since the Gyulafehérvár mint in Transylvania (today: Alba Iulia, Romania) was closed in 1871) was awarded to the newly created Czechoslovakia according to the Treaty of Trianon. Thus, the mint machinery was moved to Budapest and set up at different places until the Hungarian State Mint was created.
Only 10 and 20 fillér coins were minted as part of the korona system: first in 1919 under the Soviet Republic with the original Körmöcbánya coin dies (1916 and 1918 restrikes); then in 1920 and 1921 with the correct years of minting but still using the same design and the K.B. Körmöcbánya mintmark.
[edit] Paper money
[edit] Austro-Hungarian Bank notes (1919)
The Oesterreichisch-ungarische Bank / Osztrák-magyar Bank (Austro-Hungarian Bank), the joint bank of the Monarchy had the exclusive patent to print banknotes throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Banknotes were printed in Vienna, Hungary was supplied from there. During the First World War, the chief secretary of the Vienna headquarters intentionally suspended the delivery of banknotes to Hungary.
After the World War, the Hungarian Károlyi government requested the joint bank to deliver printing plates and banknote paper to Hungary, since it would have been too dangerous to deliver printed banknotes due to the political uncertainty. The banknotes (1, 2, 25 and 200 Krone / korona) printed in Budapest under the Károlyi government and then under the Soviet Republic were distinguished with a different serial number (1 K: higher than 7000; 2 K: higher than 7000; 25 K: higher than 3000; 200 K: higher than 2000). After the fall of the Soviet Republic, Vienna declared these banknotes to be counterfeits.
| Austro-Hungarian Bank notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Dimensions | Obverse | Reverse | Issued Date | Withdrawn Date | |
| Image:HUK 1 1916 obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 1 1916 reverse.jpg | 1 Krone / korona | 112 x 67 mm | Classic architecture pattern | Phrygian head | 30 April 1919 | 14 March 1922 |
| Image:HUK 2 1917 obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 2 1917 reverse.jpg | 2 Kronen / korona | 123 x 83 mm | Female models | Female models | 25 May 1919 | 31 December 1922 |
| Image:AHK 25 1918 obverse.jpg | Image:AHK 25 1918 reverse.jpg | 25 Kronen / korona | 135 x 80 mm | Female model | Plain or wavy pattern | 25 April 1919 | 11 November 1920 |
| Image:HUK 200 1918 obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 200 1918 reverse.jpg | 200 Kronen / korona | 167 x 99 mm | Female model | Plain or wavy pattern | 20 May 1919 | 11 November 1920 |
[edit] Postal Savings Bank notes (1919)
The Postal Savings Bank notes (Postatakarékpénztári jegy) were issued under the decree of the Revolutionary Governing Council of the Hungarian Soviet Republic by the Magyar Postatakarékpénztár (Hungarian Postal Savings Bank), which was acting as the emission bank of Hungary then. The prewar high denomination banknotes of the Austro-Hungarian Bank were deposited at par to prevent inflation.
| Postal Savings Bank notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Value | Dimensions | Obverse | Reverse | Issued Date | Withdrawn Date | |
| Image:HUK 5 1919 obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 5 1919 reverse.jpg | 5 korona | 132 x 80 mm | Male model | "Bill of the Hungarian Postal Savings Bank" | 6 June 1919 | 28 January 1923 |
| Image:HUK 10 1919 obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 10 1919 reverse.jpg | 10 korona | 140 x 88 mm | Phrygian head | Indication of value | 23 July 1919 | 28 January 1923 |
| Image:HUK 20 1919 obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 20 1919 reverse.jpg | 20 korona | 145 x 90 mm | Phrygian head | Indication of value in different languages | 23 July 1919 | 28 January 1923 |
| Image:HUK 100 1919 obverse.JPG | Image:HUK 100 1919 reverse.JPG | 100 korona | 168 x 120 mm | Male model | Indication of value in different languages | never | |
| Image:HUK 1000 1919 obverse.JPG | Image:HUK 1000 1919 reverse.JPG | 1000 korona | 200 x 134 mm | Allegoric composition | Indication of value in different languages | never | - |
[edit] Overstamped Austro-Hungarian Bank notes (1920)
Hungary was the last country among the successor states of the Monarchy to execute overstamping of the common money. The Károlyi government planned to start it on 21 March 1919, but the establishment of the Soviet Republic postponed these plans. Finally, the banknotes (the denominations from 10 to 10 000 Krone / korona) were overstamped from 18 March 1920. Hungary used a red, round stamp to mark the banknotes.
[edit] State notes (1920-1926)
State notes were first issued in 1921. The designer was Ferenc Helbing. The banknotes were first printed in Switzerland by Orell Füssli, Zürich (except for the lower denominations ,which did not worth counterfeiting) then in Hungary by the newly founded Banknote Printing Co. (Magyar Pénzjegynyomda Rt.) in Budapest. The banknote size was increasing with the higher denominations, which prompted the press to resize the banknotes: from 1923, smaller versions were printed with the same (or slightly different) design.
Main state note printing mark variations:
- Low denomination bills (1 to 20 K, printed in 1920): no mark (printed in Budapest by different printers)
- Large size bills (50 to 25 000 K, printed in 1920 and 1922): ORELL FÜSSLI ZÜRICH
- Small size bills (100 to 1 000 000 K, printed in 1923 and 1923): ORELL FÜSSLI ZÜRICH or Magyar Pénzjegynyomda Rt. Budapest. or no mark (printed by the Magyar Pénzjegynyomda Rt. in Budapest)
- All large and small size bills (50 to 1 000 000 K): T. W. or W or T. WILLI to show the name of the inventor of the photo guilloche technique used to print the state notes
| Printer marks on korona state notes | |
|---|---|
| Image:HUK OFZ mark.jpg | ORELL FÜSSLI ZÜRICH</br>printer mark on a</br>50 korona (1920) state note |
| Image:HUK MPJNYRT mark.jpg | Magyar Pénzjegynyomda Rt. Budapest.</br>printer mark on a</br>100 korona (1923) state note |
| Image:HUK TW mark.jpg | T. W.</br>printer mark on a</br>100 korona (1923) state note |
After 25 August 1926 the 1000 to 1 000 000 korona banknotes were overstamped to show the value in pengő.
| State notes overstamped to pengő value | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 korona</br>8 fillér | 5000 korona</br>40 fillér | 10 000 korona</br>80 fillér | 25 000 korona</br>2 pengő |
| Image:HUK 1000 1923 OS obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 5000 1923 OS obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 10000 1923 OS obverse.jpg | Image:HUK 25000 1923 OFZ 2 obverse.jpg |
| 50 000 korona</br>4 pengő | 100 000 korona</br>8 pengő | 500 000 korona</br>40 pengő | 1 000 000 korona</br>80 pengő |
| [[Image:|116px]] | Image:HUK 100000 1923 OS obverse.jpg | [[Image:|130px]] | [[Image:|130px]] |
[edit] External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- (Hungarian) (English) bankjegy.szabadsagharcos.org (Hungarian banknote catalog)
- (Hungarian) (English) www.numismatics.hu (Roman and Hungarian related numismatic site)
- (Hungarian) papirpenz.hu (pictures of Hungarian banknotes)
- (Hungarian) (English) (German) (French) www.eremgyujtok.hu (homepage of the Hungarian Coin Collectors' Society)
- aes.iupui.edu/rwise (pictures of Hungarian banknotes at Ron Wise's World Paper Money Homepage)
[edit] Further reading
- (Hungarian) (English) (German) Gyula Rádóczy, Géza Tasnádi (1992). Magyar papírpénzek 1848-1992 (Hungarian paper money 1848-1992). Danubius Kódex Kiadói Kft. ISBN 963-7434-11-9.
- (Hungarian) (summary in (German) (English) (Russian)) Károly Leányfalusi, Ádám Nagy (2006). A korona-fillér pénzrendszer - Magyarország fém- és papírpénzei 1892-1925 (The korona-fillér monetary system - coins and paper money of Hungary 1892-1925). Magyar Éremgyűjtők Egyesülete, Budapest. ISBN 963-229-523-4.
| Historical currencies of Hungary | Image:Flag of Hungary.svg | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Crowns | |
|---|---|
| Current | Czech koruna | Danish krone | Estonian kroon | Faroese króna | Icelandic króna | Norwegian krone | Slovak koruna | Swedish krona |
| Defunct | Austro-Hungarian krone | Czechoslovak koruna | Hungarian korona | Yugoslav krone |
| As a denomination | British crown |

