The ‘Békés County, Békéscsaba’ collector coins mark the continuation of the series presenting Hungarian counties and county seats

20 February 2025

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank is issuing a silver collector coin named ‘Békés vármegye, Békéscsaba’ with a face value of 25,000 forints and its 3,000 forints non-ferrous metal version as the third addition to its series presenting Hungarian counties and county seats on 20 February 2025, on the birthday of Mihály Munkácsy who grew up in the county seat. The coin was designed by applied artist Áron Bohus.

Békés County is situated in the south-eastern part of the country, in the Southern Great Plains. The county alongside the border was established by King St Stephen at the time of the organisation of the royal system of dukedoms, but its territory had been inhabited since the 7th millennium BC. Having developed an abundant flora and fauna, the county boasts a rich network of rivers: the Körös, Berettyó and Száraz-ér streams flow through its territory. In addition to its natural treasures, the county is also known for its gastronomic specialities, the Csabai and Gyulai sausages and the békési pálinka, which are considered Hungaricums. The most significant towns in the county are Békéscsaba which was declared an administrative centre in 1950, Gyula, which is famous for its rich history and the role it played in the defence against the Turks, and Orosháza with a great agricultural past. Békéscsaba, the county seat, is the geographical and economic centre in the county, where the internationally renowned painter Mihály Munkácsy spent his childhood.

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank is issuing a silver collector coin with a face value of 25,000 forints named ‘Békés vármegye, Békéscsaba’ and its non-ferrous metal version of 3,000 forints as the third piece of the collector coin series presenting Hungarian counties and county seats launched in 2022. Adhering to the thematic conception of the series, the obverse of the coins feature the county seats while the reverse sides represent the counties. Accordingly, the highlights of Békéscsaba's architectural heritage are shown on the obverse, with the cultural and natural values of Békés County appearing on the reverse.

The primary role of the coins is to raise awareness with no role in cash circulation. The silver and non-ferrous metal coins have the same design, the only difference being their denominations.

On the obverse, the portrait of Mihály Munkácsy is displayed in a painter's palette in the upper right, and to the left, the lettering ‘BÉKÉSCSABA MUNKÁCSY VÁROSA’ (BÉKÉSCSABA, THE TOWN OF MUNKÁCSY) is placed in three horizontal lines, reflecting the motto of the county seat. Another special feature of Békéscsaba is that two church buildings are located in its main square. This specificity is also captured by the motifs on the obverse: parts of the Evangélikus Kistemplom (Lutheran Small Church) and the Nagytemplom (Great Church) are featured at bottom left. To the right of the representation of the churches, edited in four lines the denominations ‘25000 Ft’ and ‘3000 Ft’, the lettering ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’ (HUNGARY) referring to the issuer, the mint year ‘2025’ and the mint mark ‘BP.’.

The obverse of the ‘Békés vármegye, Békéscsaba’ collector coins

On the reverse of the coins a collage is seen depicting the cultural and natural treasures of Békés county, which is put into perspective by the wording ‘BÉKÉS VÁRMEGYE’ (BÉKÉS COUNTY). In the upper left, the representation of the only intact brick castle in the Hungarian Plains, the castle of Gyula, is shown. At the bottom, a detail of the facade of the Wenckheim castle in Szabadkígyós is seen. The natural assets are represented by the protected plant Adonis volgensis, which can only be found in Békés county, and the rivers (the Sebes, Fekete and Fehér-Körös and the Berettyó) hidden in the illustration of the county in an outline map. A spot marks the place of Békéscsaba in this map. The collector coin was designed by applied artist Áron Bohus, whose designer’s mark is found on the reverse.

The reverse of the ‘Békés vármegye, Békéscsaba’ collector coins

The collector coins have unique technical parameters with a diameter of 42 mm, which is exceptional for this series of forint collector coins. The pieces in the series are also linked by the inscription ‘MAGYARORSZÁG VÁRMEGYÉI, VÁRMEGYESZÉKHELYEI’ (HUNGARY’S COUNTIES AND COUNTY SEATS) appearing twice on the finely reeded edges separated by a hyphen.

The silver coin with a face value of 25,000 forints is struck in .925 fine silver and weighs 40 grams. The non-ferrous metal coin with a face value of 3,000 forints is produced from an alloy of copper (90%) and zinc (10%) and weighs 29.50 grams. 6,000 pieces can be produced of the silver collector coin in proof finish and 10,000 pieces of the non-ferrous version in tarnished finish.

In order to promote the role of these collector coins to transfer value and raise awareness as widely as possible, the silver coin ‘Békés vármegye, Békéscsaba’ will be available for purchase for three months, while stocks last, and the non-ferrous version for one year from the date of issuance, 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 20 February 2025.