The Hungarian korona (Hungarian: ''magyar korona''; ''korona'' in English is "crown") was the replacement currency of the Austro-Hungarian Krone/korona amongst the boundaries of the newly created post-World War I

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. It suffered a serious inflation and was replaced by the pengő on 1 January 1927.

Introduction

According to the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

and other treaties regulating the situation of countries emerging from the ruins of the dissolved

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, the former banknotes had to be overstamped by the new states and — after a given transition-period — replaced by a new currency. In the case of Hungary, this currency was the korona, which replaced its Austro-Hungarian counterpart

at par In finance and accounting, par value means stated value or face value of a financial instrument. Expressions derived from this term include at par (at the par value), over par (over par value) and under par (under par value). Bonds A bond sellin ...

. Hungary was the last country to fulfil the replacement obligation of the treaties and the stamps used for overstamping were very easy to copy, so a large portion of the common currency circulated in Hungary was

fake Fake or fakes may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * The Fake (1927 film), ''The Fake'' (1927 film), a silent British drama film * The Fake (1953 film), ''The Fake'' (1953 film), a British film * Fake (2003 film), ''Fake'' (20 ...

. This was a factor contributing to the process which finally led to a serious inflation. Finally, in 1927, the korona was replaced by the pengő at a rate of 12,500 korona = 1 pengő.

Coins

Körmöcbánya (today:

Kremnica Kremnica (; , ) is a town in central Slovakia. It has around 5,300 inhabitants. The well-preserved medieval town built above important gold mines is the site of the oldest still-working mint in the world. Name The name is derived from Slovak '' ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

), the site of the only mint of Hungary (since the Gyulafehérvár mint in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

(today:

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) was closed in 1871) was awarded to the newly created Czechoslovakia according to the

. Thus, the mint machinery was moved to Budapest and set up at different places until the Hungarian State Mint was created. Only 10 and 20

fillér ''Fillér'' () was the name of various small-denomination coins throughout Hungarian history. It was the subdivision of the Austro-Hungarian and the Hungarian korona, the pengő, and the forint. The name derives from the German word (four). ...

coins were minted as part of the korona system: first in 1919 under the

Soviet Republic A soviet republic (from ), also called council republic, is a republic in which the government is formed of soviets (workers' councils) and politics are based on soviet democracy. During the Revolutions of 1917–1923, various revolutionary ...

with the original Körmöcbánya

coin die Mint (coin), Minting, coining or coinage is the process of manufacturing coins using a kind of stamping (metalworking), stamping, the process used in both hammered coinage and milled coinage. This "stamping" process is different from the method ...

s (1916 and 1918 restrikes); then in 1920 and 1921 with the correct years of minting but still using the same design and the K.B. Körmöcbánya mintmark.

Paper money

The first paper money printed in Hungary were 1, 2, 25 and 200 korona banknotes — similar to those issued in Vienna during the end of the war. However, the use of these banknotes was limited to Austria and Hungary, and later even Austria considered the Hungarian issues to be counterfeits. Later, as there was no national bank in Hungary, the Postal Savings Bank received the right to print bills denominated 5, 10 and 20 korona. The overstamping of the banknotes of the Austro-Hungarian Bank started only in 1920 — the last of all states emerging from the ruins of the former Monarchy. Finally, the Hungarian Royal State Note Institute was founded and granted the right to issue treasury notes.

Introduction

Coins

Paper money

Further reading