Banknotes of the Hungarian forint

Hungarian forint paper money (Hungarian: forint papírpénz) is part of the physical form of the current Hungarian currency, the Hungarian forint. The forint paper money consists of exclusively banknotes. During its history, denominations ranging from 10 to 20 000 forint were put into circulation in correspondence with the inflation which raised needs for higher denominations. Recently commemorative banknotes were issued as well.

Contents

1946 Series

In 1946, the first series of forint banknotes were put into circulation with the denominations of 10 Ft and 100 Ft. As a consequence of their poor quality (offset printing), many counterfeit appeared in a short time.

1946 Series
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal lapse
10 Ft 155 × 71 mm Dark green A worker with hammer Coat of arms 3 June 1946 1 August 1946 31 March 1948 31 March 1951
100 Ft 158 × 72 mm Dark blue A woman holding a sickle and ears of wheat Hands holding a hammer and ears of wheat 3 June 1946 7 August 1946 1 May 1951 31 December 1951
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

1947 Series

From 1947, a second series of banknotes were designed and put into circulation. These banknotes were printed until 1996 with different coat of arms.

1947 Series
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse first printing issue withdrawal lapse
Kossuth's coat of arms
10 Ft 166 × 72 mm Green Sándor Petőfi János Jankó's painting: "Riverside scene" 27 February 1947 25 July 1947 30 September 1992 31 December 1993
20 Ft Blue György Dózsa Male nude (posing: pentathlete István Hegedűs) with hammer and ear of wheat 1 August 1948
100 Ft Red Lajos Kossuth Károly Lotz's painting: "Flight from the thunderstorm" 14 August 1948 31 December 1998 31 December 1999
Rákosi's coat of arms
10 Ft 166 × 72 mm Green Sándor Petőfi János Jankó's painting: "Riverside scene" 24 October 1949 1 July 1950 30 September 1992 31 December 1993
20 Ft Blue György Dózsa Male nude (posing: pentathlete István Hegedűs) with hammer and ear of wheat
50 Ft Brown Portrait of Ferenc II Rákóczi by Ádám Mányoki Unknown painter: "Kuruc-labanc battle scene" 1 September 1951 13 June 1953 30 June 1996 31 December 1996
100 Ft Red Lajos Kossuth Károly Lotz's painting: "Flight from the thunderstorm" 24 October 1949 1 July 1950 31 December 1998 31 December 1999
Kádár's coat of arms
10 Ft 166 × 72 mm Green Sándor Petőfi János Jankó's painting: "Riverside scene" 23 May 1957 27 October 1959 30 September 1992 31 December 1993
20 Ft Blue György Dózsa Male nude (posing: pentathlete István Hegedűs) with hammer and ear of wheat 8 November 1960
50 Ft Brown Portrait of Ferenc II Rákóczi by Ádám Mányoki Unknown painter: "Kuruc-labanc battle scene" 3 September 1965 15 June 1966 30 June 1996 31 December 1996
100 Ft Red Lajos Kossuth Károly Lotz's painting: "Flight from the thunderstorm" 23 May 1957 20 March 1959 31 December 1998 31 December 1999
500 Ft 174 × 80 mm Violet Endre Ady View of Budapest 30 June 1969 21 August 1970 31 August 1999 31 August 2019
1000 Ft Light green Béla Bartók Ferenc Medgyessy's sculpture: "Mother with her child" 25 March 1983 27 June 1983
Recent coat of arms
100 Ft 166 × 72 mm Red Lajos Kossuth Károly Lotz's painting: "Flight from the thunderstorm" 15 January 1992 1 July 1992 31 December 1998 31 December 1999
500 Ft 174 × 80 mm Violet Endre Ady View of Budapest 31 July 1990 6 April 1992 31 August 1999 31 August 2019
1000 Ft Light green Béla Bartók Ferenc Medgyessy's sculpture: "Mother with her child" 30 October 1992 5 November 1993
5000 Ft Orange-brown Portrait of Count István Széchenyi by Friedrich Amerling The Hungarian Academy of Sciences building 31 July 1990 25 March 1991 26 July 1999 26 July 2019
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Recent series

Between 1997 and 2001, a new series of banknotes were issued with improved security features. The notes share the common size of 154 × 70 mm. The banknotes are printed by the Hungarian Banknote Printing Corp. in Budapest on the paper manufactured by the Diósgyőr Papermill in Miskolc.

The Hungarian National Bank has announced the withdrawal of the 1000 forint notes issued prior to 2006. This affects the 1000 forint note from the current series, but without the red metallic strip on the obverse side, i.e. also the Millennium issue. These notes remained in circulation until August 31, 2007. After this period, the note may be refused for payment. However, commercial banks may exchange these notes thereafter. The Hungarian National Bank will continue to exchange these notes for twenty years, until August 31, 2027.

The 200 forint notes were replaced with a new 200 forint coin in 2009.[1] (The silver 200 forint coins that were in circulation till 1998 did not see much use at that time.)

Recent Series - regular issues
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse first printing issue withdrawal lapse
200 Ft 154 × 70 mm green King Charles Robert Castle of Diósgyőr 1998 1 May 1998 November 16, 2009
200 Ft 2001. 2001. November 16, 2009
500 Ft orange and brown Portrait of prince sovereign Ferenc II Rákóczi by Ádám Mányoki Castle of Sárospatak 1998 1 December 1998 current
500 Ft 2001 1 February 2001 current
1000 Ft blue King Matthias Corvinus the Hercules Fountain from the Castle of Visegrád 1998 1 September 1998 31 August 2007 31 August 2027
1000 Ft 2002 2002 31 August 2007 31 August 2027
1000 Ft 2005 10 April 2006 current
2000 Ft brown prince sovereign Gábor Bethlen Viktor Madarász' painting "Gábor Bethlen among his scientists" 1998 1 February 1998 current
2000 Ft 2002 2002 current
5000 Ft violet and green Portrait of Count István Széchenyi by Friedrich Amerling the Széchenyi Mansion in Nagycenk 1999 1 April 1999 current
5000 Ft 2005 2005 current
10 000 Ft red and blue King Stephen I view of Esztergom by Hubert Sattler 1997 1 July 1997 current
10 000 Ft 1998 1998 current
20 000 Ft grey and reddish Ferenc Deák the old House of Representatives in Pest 1999 1 February 2001 current
20 000 Ft 2004 2004 current
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.
Recent Series - commemorative issues
Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of
Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse Commemorative subject first printing issue
500 Ft 154 × 70 mm orange and brown Portrait of prince sovereign Ferenc II Rákóczi by Ádám Mányoki The Hungarian Parliament Building and the Hungarian Revolution flag of 1956 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 2006 20 October 2006
1000 Ft 154 × 70 mm blue King Matthias Corvinus the Hercules Fountain from the Castle of Visegrád Millennium 2000 1 November 2000
2000 Ft 154 × 70 mm brownish the Holy Crown of Hungary Gyula Benczúr's painting: "Baptism of Vajk" Millennium of the state establishment 20 August 2000 20 August 2000
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

References

  1. ^ Coins to replace 200 forint banknotes, MNB press release, June 23, 2008
Historical currencies of Hungary     
Currency Forint
1867–1892		 Korona
1892–1918		 Korona
1919–1926		 Pengő
1927–1946		 Adópengő
1946		 Forint
1946–present
Coins coins coins coins - coins
Paper money paper money paper money paper money paper money paper money paper money