The Golden florin of John Hunyadi - collector coin issuance

6 September 2022

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank will issue a particularly valuable gold collector coin named ‘Hunyadi János aranyforintja’ (The Golden florin of John Hunyadi) in single and in piedfort version, which is four times the weight of a normal coin. In line with the traditions of central bank issuances, the non-ferrous metal version of the 50,000-forint precious metal coins will also be issued at a face value of 2,000 forints. The collector coins will be issued as the seventh piece of the Hungarian medieval gold florin series. The coin was designed by applied artist, Fanni Király.

The MNB issued the gold coin of Charles I as the first piece in the series named ‘Hungarian gold florins from the Middle Ages’ in 2012 with the aim of providing a full picture of good quality coins in medieval Hungarian money history, which preserved their value and were frequently accepted by foreign merchants as well. To be true to history, the first piece of the series was followed by the golden florin of Louis I in 2013, Queen Mary in 2014, Sigismund in 2016, Albert in 2018 and Vladislaus I in 2020.

By issuing this coin, the MNB wishes to highlight the values of Hungarian money history, the Medieval golden florins, the historic predecessors of our national currency. The gold and the non-ferrous metal versions have the same design, the only difference being their denominations.

The obverse of the ‘Hunyadi János aranyforintja’ collector coins is decorated with the exact replica of the reverse of the golden florin issued by the Governor depicting Saint Ladislaus. In a semi-circular legend, at the top, the lettering ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’ (Hungary) at the bottom the denominations ‘50,000’ or ‘2,000’ and the inscription ‘FORINT’ are seen. Next to the central motif, the mint mark ‘BP.’ is placed on the left with the mint year ‘2022’ positioned on the right.

The obverse of the ‘Hunyadi János aranyforintja’ collector coin

On the reverse, the figure of John Hunyadi is featured, which was inspired by the engraving in the 1488 edition of the Chronica Hungarorum published in Brno. However, in contrast to the engraving, the coin design does not show Hunyadi’s shield, but the obverse of the golden florin, issued by himself, which features a quartered coat of arms. On the coat of arms in the first and the fourth fields the Hungarian stripes are placed while the second displays the double cross and the third features the Hunyadi family’s heraldic beast, the raven. The reverse is framed by two semi-circular legends: at the top the words ‘HUNYADI JÁNOS KORMÁNYZÓ’ (Governor John Hunyadi) and the years 1446–1452 referring of the period when he acted as governor, at the bottom the inscription ‘ARANYFORINTJA’ (golden florin). The two legends are separated by the master mark of applied artist Fanni Király, who designed the coin. 

The reverse of the ‘Hunyadi János aranyforintja’ collector coin

The gold coin with a face value of HUF 50,000 is struck in .986 fine gold. The normal coin weighs 3.491 grams (1 ducat) and the piedfort coin weighs 13.964 grams (4 ducats). The non-ferrous metal coin with a face value of HUF 2,000 is produced from an alloy of copper (75%), nickel (4%) zinc (21%) and weighs 2.7 grams. The edge of the normal and piedfort gold coins is smooth. The piedfort version is decorated with the Latin inscription ‘IOHANNES DE HWNIAD REGNI VNGARIAE GVBERNATOR’ on the edge, meaning ‘John Hunyadi, Governor of Hungary’. All three coins have the same diameter of 20 mm. The mintage limit of the standard size collector coin is 2000 and that of the piedfort coin is 500 in proof finish. The mintage limit of the non-ferrous coin is 5000 in BU finish.

In order to promote the role of these collector coins to transfer value and raise awareness as widely as possible, the on-ferrous metal coin of 2,000 forints “Milton Friedman” will be available for purchase for one year, while stocks last, at face value in the webshop (https://www.penzvero.hu/) and coin shop of Hungarian Mint Ltd. (Budapest, distr. V, 7 Báthory street), the producer and the distributor of the coins, starting from 6 September 2022.