The 1930 Hungarian Silver 5 Pengő 10th Anniversary - Regency of Admiral Horthy

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” Blackbirds tend to like shiny objects” ~ The Bloody Raven

Anika

Debrecen, Hungary October 1945

Unlike Budapest the city was spared the siege of Soviet artillery not long ago. The Germans finally surrendered and the long process rebuilding Hungary is underway at least piecemeal for now.

Anika shuttered her third-floor apartment window. It's not that she could not longer stand for the daily conflict happening on the shattered streets she once knew.

Friends, neighbors, fellow Hungarians were understandably at odds after all they as a nation now reduced to a survival posture. The people together have always found ways to survive and get along as she her two children managed after her husband Kardos joined the Resistance against the Nazis. He was still missing. Meanwhile, the majority of remaining able-bodied Hungarians were made to join the German forces in the waning days of the war, many never returned.

The people got accustomed to the rising costs. The Szálasi government kept up shipments of new notes to the bank. When the people were paid, it was simply spent unless there wasn’t anything to buy or the shop keep reserved it for special customers. No point saving. There were still goods available for sale to the right people.

Petr played with the bundles of unused Hungarian banknotes, got tired of them and tossed them next to the bundles of useless Soviet army script. The same script littering the broken streets. Lena checked the door locked and hung the jackets.

Anika hid the handgun away in an end table drawer by the couch. Lifting the suitcase, she used for shopping on to the table and opened it. It was still dangerous to walk the streets with bags of food. The suitcase concealed her shopping and made her appear to be as a returning war refugee. The children excitedly gathered in close to sort the treasures. For years Kardo and her Father’s saving paid off as some of the local vendors treat her as a special customer.

Petr and Lena instantly grasped their packages. An indulgence in that bought some joy amid misery. They were brand new toys, a truck for Petr and a doll for Lena. They could return to being children even for a while. Anika stared at the groceries and considered it such a blessing that a few silver coins was worth more than all the banknotes held by the crowds lining up at the stores.

She slid a heavy metal strong box out from under the couch, the key hanging around her neck unlocked the box. Upon opening she could again appreciate why they saved in gold and silver coin for all those decades as Papa always said, “Anika, paper is always no good.”
As Anika poured the coin change into the strong box she whispered to herself, “Now I wish for you Kardo my husband, that one day you will return to me.”

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My next inexpensive acquisition is a Hungarian 5 Pengő from the 2019 September Nikkei Coin show In January 1927 the Pengő replaced the Hungarian Korona currency after suffering chronically high Inflation over the 1920s.

Prior to the Pengő, a well circulated 1894 Hungarian Korona1 Silver (.835), 5g, Mintage of 12,077,29023mm Diameter, 1.5mm thickKM# 484, Schön# 5.1, ÉH# 1496, H# 2203

Typically, gold and silver coin were hoarded and disappeared as high inflation took hold. The Pengő was introduced by pegging to 12,500 Korona, 3,800 Pengő fixed to One Kilo of gold. Therefore, the Pengő was fixed on a Gold Standard.

The name “Pengő” should ‘Ring’ familiar with some silver Stackers as it means ‘ringing’, that is the sound of silver coin when struck on a hard surface.

The Hungarian participle pengő means 'ringing' (which in turn derives from the verb peng, an onomatopoeic word equivalent to English 'ring') and was used from the 15–17th century to refer to silver coins making a ringing sound when struck on a hard surface, thus indicating their precious metal content. ~ WIKI

5 Pengő – Miklós Horthy Regency1Reverse; MAGYAR KIRÁLYSÁG 5 PENGŐ, BP Silver (.640), 25g, Mintage of 3,650,000 36mm Diameter, 2.9mm ThicknessKM# 512.1

The new currency was stable for a few years until the Great Depression and it wasn’t long until the Hungarian government began loosening it’s monetary policy.

1Obverse: VITÉZ NAGYBÁNYAI HORTHY MIKLÓS KORMÁNYZÓSÁGÁNAK 10. ÉVFORDULÓJÁRA 1930

In dealing with the effects of the Great Depression after 1930 Hungary’s debt increased to the point where the Pengő needed to be devalued especially with war preparations and the addition of previous old territories restored under Hungary that needed development. The relatively small economy of Hungary could not shoulder the debt burden coupled with the high Inflation.

Again, silver and gold coinage are hoarded and vanish from circulation. Costs rising, and budgets demanding much more cash, The Szálasi government took control of banknote printing and issued notes with NO BACKING.

And for those that are also attracted to colorful Paper currency!

1945 Hungary 10 Million Pengő 1Front:Printer - Hungarian Banknote Printing Corp.

1945 Hungary 10 Million Pengő 1BackP123Coin Talk listing of Hungarian Paper Money

High Inflation continued to batter the Hungarian Pengő until about March 1946 Hyperinflation took hold and finally ended the Pengő as a viable currency. The highest Hyperinflation rate was clocked on July 10 1946 as 460000000000000000000000000000 or 4.6×1029 Pengo to One US Dollar.

Investopia’s Definition of Hyperinflation:

Whereas normal inflation is measured in terms of monthly price increases, hyperinflation is measured in terms of exponential daily increases that can approach 5 to 10% a day. Hyperinflation occurs when the inflation rate exceeds 50% for a period of a month.

In this case of Hungary in July of 1946, saw prices doubling every 15 hours!

The Largest denomination note 100 Quintillion Pengő.W100MB Pengo by Timur Lenk under Public Domain

The Adópengő was introduced as a stop gap but didn’t last long. The Pengő was replaced by the new Hungarian Forint at the rate 1 Forint = 4x1029 Pengo On August 1st 1946 and is still in circulation today. Hungary MAY adopt the Euro in 2020.

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I hope you enjoyed this coin feature, thank you for stopping by for a read.

References

1. My own pictures shot with a Samsung SM-A530W P. Image under PixabayR. Clip art from 123RF W. Wiki Commons

Wiki Hungarian Pengo Numista 5 PengoOne Bread Cost 5.85 Billion Pengo

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“Et lux in tenebris to serve laboro, sum sicarius” “I work in the shadows to serve the Light, I am an Assassin”