The Magyar Nemzeti Bank is issuing a collector coin series in honour of Hungarian Nobel laureates. The first of the series, a silver collector coin with a face value of HUF 3,000, will be dedicated to the memory of Albert Szent-Györgyi on the occasion of his being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 75 years ago.
The special, oval-shaped collector coin was designed by Fanni Vékony. The obverse of the collector coin bears the standard elements: the legend ‘HUNGARY’, the mint mark ‘BP.’, the mint year ‘2012’, the value numeral ‘3000’ and the inscription ‘FORINT’. The coin’s main motif is a representation of two green peppers – a whole one in the foreground and a halved one in the background – alluding to the fact that vitamin C was first produced in large quantities from green peppers grown in the town of Szeged.
The reverse of the collector coin bears the portrait of Albert Szent-Györgyi. To the right of the portrait, the coin has the inscription ‘LÁTNI, AMIT MINDENKI LÁT ÉS GONDOLNI, AMIT MÉG SENKI NEM GONDOLT.’ (To see what everyone can see and to think what no one has ever thought before.), written in four horizontal lines below each other, and a lower legend ‘SZENT-GYÖRGYI ALBERT • 1937 NOBEL-DÍJ’. The initials of designer Fanni Vékony feature to the right of the portrait.
The oval-shaped silver collector coin is struck in .925 fine silver. It weighs 12.5 grams, it is 30x25 mm in diameter and it has a smooth edge. The mintage limit of the coins is 7,000, of which 5,000 can be produced in proof finish.
The collector coins are sold by the Hungarian Mint. They will be available to buy at the coin shop of the Hungarian Mint in the Magyar Nemzeti Bank’s Visitor Centre (8–9 Szabadság tér, Budapest) and in the webshop on the Mint’s website (www.penzvero.hu) from 26 October 2012. Many collector coins produced from gold, silver and non-ferrous metals issued earlier are also on sale in the Mint’s webshop.
