{"product_id":"hungary-p-109-20-pengo-1941-vf","title":"Hungary P109 20 Pengő 1941 VF Very Fine circulated—Woman—Shepherd—Blue","description":"\u003ch3\u003eBanknote Characteristics\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFront:\u003c\/strong\u003e Shepherd and sheep at lower centre; portrait of woman wearing \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_folk_costume\" target=\"_blank\"\u003enational costume\u003c\/a\u003e at right\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBack:\u003c\/strong\u003e Old man and young woman at centre; denomination inscribed in Hungarian, German, Slovak, Romanian, Rusyn, and Serbian\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eColor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Blue on tan and light green underprint (obverse); multicolor (reverse)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWatermark:\u003c\/strong\u003e Present\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Paper\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 165 × 76 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIssuing entity:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Magyar_Nemzeti_Bank\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMagyar Nemzeti Bank\u003c\/a\u003e (Hungarian National Bank)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDesigners:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Endre_Horv%C3%A1th_(artist)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eEndre Horváth\u003c\/a\u003e, Kálmán Moskó\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEngraver:\u003c\/strong\u003e Endre Horváth\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIssued:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15 January 1941\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDemonetized:\u003c\/strong\u003e 6 May 1946 — \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Demonetization_(currency)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003edemonetized\u003c\/a\u003e following the catastrophic \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_peng%C5%91\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePengő hyperinflation\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSignatures:\u003c\/strong\u003e Gov. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lip%C3%B3t_Baranyai\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eLipót Baranyai\u003c\/a\u003e, Mihály Koos, Richard Quandt\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCurrency:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_peng%C5%91\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePengő\u003c\/a\u003e (1927–1946) — replaced by the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_forint\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eForint\u003c\/a\u003e in 1946 after one of the worst hyperinflations in recorded history\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReferences:\u003c\/strong\u003e P-109 | Adamo MBK2 P12\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDesign and Colors\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis note is a masterwork of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intaglio_printing\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eintaglio printing\u003c\/a\u003e — the same technique used for the world's most secure banknotes — executed in a style that sits at the intersection of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Art_Nouveau\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eArt Nouveau\u003c\/a\u003e naturalism and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_folk_art\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHungarian folk romanticism\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObverse (Front):\u003c\/strong\u003e The dominant color is a rich \u003cstrong\u003esteel blue\u003c\/strong\u003e, applied in fine intaglio over a warm \u003cstrong\u003etan and light green\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Guilloch%C3%A9\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eguilloché\u003c\/a\u003e underprint. The guilloché — an intricate engine-turned geometric pattern of interlocking rosettes and wave forms — serves both as a security feature and as a visual foundation that gives the note its characteristic warmth. Against this, the central vignette depicts a \u003cstrong\u003eshepherd with his flock\u003c\/strong\u003e, rendered in fine cross-hatched engraving that creates subtle tonal gradations. The shepherd is shown in a relaxed pastoral pose, the sheep clustered at his feet in a composition that evokes the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Puszta\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHungarian Puszta\u003c\/a\u003e — the great plain central to Magyar national identity. To the right, a \u003cstrong\u003eportrait of a woman in traditional Hungarian folk costume\u003c\/strong\u003e dominates the note. Her embroidered blouse, headdress, and jewelry are rendered with extraordinary precision — each stitch of the embroidery suggested by the engraver's burin. The portrait style follows the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Historicism_(art)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehistoricist\u003c\/a\u003e tradition of idealized national types, common in Central European banknote design of the 1920s–1940s. The lettering — \u003cem\u003eHÚSZ PENGŐ\u003c\/em\u003e and the bank name — is set in a \u003cstrong\u003eclassical serif typeface\u003c\/strong\u003e with formal proportions consistent with state currency. A warning inscription runs along the lower border in a smaller condensed serif.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReverse (Back):\u003c\/strong\u003e The reverse shifts to a warmer palette — \u003cstrong\u003eochre, brown, and olive\u003c\/strong\u003e tones — with a central vignette of an \u003cstrong\u003eold man and a young woman\u003c\/strong\u003e in conversation, again in folk costume. The composition is more intimate than the obverse: the two figures are shown close together, the generational contrast deliberate — a visual metaphor for the continuity of Hungarian rural tradition. The numeral \u003cstrong\u003e20\u003c\/strong\u003e appears in large, bold \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sans-serif\" target=\"_blank\"\u003esans-serif\u003c\/a\u003e figures at the corners — a modernist touch that contrasts with the otherwise historicist aesthetic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArtistic Style:\u003c\/strong\u003e The overall design language belongs to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_romanticism\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eNational Romantic\u003c\/a\u003e movement — a pan-European tendency in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to express national identity through idealized rural imagery, folk costume, and pre-industrial landscapes. In Hungary, this tradition was deeply tied to the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/G%C3%B6d%C3%B6ll%C5%91_artists%27_colony\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGödöllő artists' colony\u003c\/a\u003e and the broader \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_Art_Nouveau\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHungarian Szecesszió\u003c\/a\u003e (Secession) movement. The engraving technique — fine parallel lines, cross-hatching, and stippling — is characteristic of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_Banknote_Printing_Co.\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHungarian Banknote Printing Company\u003c\/a\u003e tradition, which trained its engravers in the same academic methods used at the great European security printers of the era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout Hungary\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCapital:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Budapest\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBudapest\u003c\/a\u003e (city pop. ~1.7 million; metro ~3.3 million)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePopulation:\u003c\/strong\u003e ~9.6 million (UN 2024) — similar to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sweden\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSweden\u003c\/a\u003e or \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eNew Jersey\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eArea:\u003c\/strong\u003e 93,028 km² (35,918 mi²)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGDP per capita at \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Purchasing_power_parity\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePPP\u003c\/a\u003e:\u003c\/strong\u003e ~$43,000 USD (IMF 2024) — ranks ~45th out of 193 globally\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMain exports:\u003c\/strong\u003e Vehicles and parts, machinery, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food products\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBorders:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Austria\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAustria\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Slovakia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSlovakia\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ukraine\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eUkraine\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Romania\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eRomania\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Serbia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSerbia\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Croatia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCroatia\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Slovenia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSlovenia\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOfficial\/spoken language:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_language\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHungarian\u003c\/a\u003e (~100% of population)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSovereignty:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pannonia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePannonia\u003c\/a\u003e — Roman province (1st century AD–433); before Rome, home to Celtic and Illyrian tribes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hunnic_Empire\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHunnic Empire\u003c\/a\u003e (433–469) — Huns arrived from the Eurasian steppe under \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Attila\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAttila\u003c\/a\u003e; empire collapsed after his death\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGermanic and Avar kingdoms (469–895)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_conquest_of_the_Carpathian_Basin\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eMagyar conquest\u003c\/a\u003e (895) — Magyars from the Ural region, arrived under \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eÁrpád\u003c\/a\u003e, displacing\/absorbing Slavs and Avars\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kingdom_of_Hungary\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eKingdom of Hungary\u003c\/a\u003e (1000–1526) — founded by \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stephen_I_of_Hungary\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eStephen I\u003c\/a\u003e, ruling Transylvania, Croatia, Dalmatia, Slovakia, Transcarpathia, and Vojvodina\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Battle_of_Moh%C3%A1cs\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBattle of Mohács\u003c\/a\u003e (1526) — Ottoman victory; Hungary split into Ottoman-occupied central Hungary, semi-autonomous Transylvania, and Royal Hungary under the Habsburgs\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Habsburg_monarchy\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHabsburg rule\u003c\/a\u003e (1526–1867) — Ottomans expelled by 1699; Hungary subject to Vienna\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Austria-Hungary\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAustro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy\u003c\/a\u003e (1867–1918) — Hungary co-equal partner with Austria, ruling a vast multi-ethnic empire\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kingdom_of_Hungary_(1920%E2%80%931946)\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHorthy Regency\u003c\/a\u003e (1920–1944) — \u003cstrong\u003ethis note issued during this period\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Treaty_of_Trianon\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTreaty of Trianon\u003c\/a\u003e (1920) — Hungary lost ~72% of its territory and ~64% of its population: Transylvania to Romania; Slovakia and Transcarpathia to Czechoslovakia; Vojvodina to Yugoslavia; Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia to Yugoslavia and Italy; Burgenland to Austria\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arrow_Cross_Party\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eArrow Cross\u003c\/a\u003e \/ German occupation (1944–1945)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"People's Republic\" (1949–1989) — communist dictatorship, Soviet satellite state; USSR crushed the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e1956 uprising\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRepublic (1989–date)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eA Pastoral Scene Printed in the Shadow of War\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJanuary 1941. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungary_in_World_War_II\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eHungary\u003c\/a\u003e had just signed the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tripartite_Pact\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTripartite Pact\u003c\/a\u003e, aligning itself with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Within months it would join the invasion of Yugoslavia. And yet the Magyar Nemzeti Bank issued this note — a shepherd with his flock, a woman in embroidered national dress, an old man and a young woman in quiet conversation. \u003cstrong\u003eThe imagery is deliberately timeless, rooted in the Hungarian countryside rather than the chaos engulfing Europe.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe note was engraved by \u003cstrong\u003eEndre Horváth\u003c\/strong\u003e, one of Hungary's most accomplished banknote artists, whose fine \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Intaglio_printing\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eintaglio\u003c\/a\u003e work gives the figures a warmth and depth rarely seen in wartime currency. The \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Guilloch%C3%A9\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eguilloché\u003c\/a\u003e underprint in tan and green anchors the blue portrait in a composition that feels more like a museum print than a circulating banknote.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eSix Languages on the Back: A Political Statement, Not a Courtesy\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLook closely at the reverse. The denomination is printed in six languages — Hungarian, German, Slovak, Romanian, Rusyn, and Serbian. This was not a gesture of multicultural goodwill. By 1941, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Treaty_of_Trianon\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTrianon\u003c\/a\u003e had stripped Hungary of two-thirds of its territory, and speakers of those minority languages were largely gone from what remained. The six languages were a \u003cstrong\u003epolitical claim\u003c\/strong\u003e — printed proof that Hungary had never accepted the loss of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Slovakia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSlovakia\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transylvania\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTransylvania\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Subcarpathian_Ruthenia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSubcarpathian Ruthenia\u003c\/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vojvodina\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eVojvodina\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd by January 1941, that claim had already been partially vindicated. The \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/First_Vienna_Award\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eFirst Vienna Award\u003c\/a\u003e (November 1938) had returned southern Slovakia. Hungary had occupied the Czechoslovak Rusyn-speaking area \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Carpatho-Ukraine\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eTranscarpathia\u003c\/a\u003e in March 1939 (now part of Ukraine). The \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Second_Vienna_Award\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSecond Vienna Award\u003c\/a\u003e (August 1940) had returned northern Transylvania where the most Hungarian speakers lived, but also many Romanian speakers. \u003cstrong\u003eThis note was printed into a Hungary that was actively governing those recovered populations.\u003c\/strong\u003e The six languages weren't nostalgia — they were current political reality, and a signal of what Budapest still wanted back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Pengő's Catastrophic End\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis note was demonetized on 6 May 1946 — not because the war ended, but because the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_peng%C5%91\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePengő\u003c\/a\u003e had ceased to function as money. Hungary's post-war \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hyperinflation_in_Hungary\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehyperinflation\u003c\/a\u003e remains \u003cstrong\u003ethe worst in recorded human history\u003c\/strong\u003e. At its peak in July 1946, prices were doubling every 15 hours. The government was printing 100 quintillion Pengő notes. The 20 Pengő you are holding here — worth a day's wages in 1941 — was worth less than a grain of sand by the time it was pulled from circulation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hungarian_forint\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eForint\u003c\/a\u003e replaced it at a rate of 400,000 quadrillion Pengő to 1 Forint. That number is not a typo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eOwn This Document of Hungary, Before the Flood\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is Hungary in 1941 — prosperous enough to commission beautiful currency, nationalist enough to put folk costume and irredentist language claims on its banknotes, and four years away from total collapse. The shepherd on the front had no idea what was coming. Neither did anyone else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Very Fine example: well-circulated, honest wear, the imagery still crisp and the colors still vivid. A genuine artifact of the Horthy era, priced for the collector who wants history in hand, not behind glass.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World Money Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51939249783095,"sku":"HU109VF","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0969\/7165\/3431\/files\/109orcopy.jpg?v=1775775270","url":"https:\/\/worldmoneystore.com\/products\/hungary-p-109-20-pengo-1941-vf","provider":"World Money Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}