Hungarian pengő
| Hungarian pengő | |
|---|---|
|
pengő (Hungarian) |
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100 million b.‑pengő (1946)
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| Denominations | |
| Superunit | |
| 106 | milpengő |
| 1012 | b.-pengő |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 |
fillér (defunct) |
| Symbol | P |
| Banknotes | 10 000, 100 000, 1 million, 10 million, 100 million, 1000 million milpengő; 10 000, 100 000, 1 million, 10 million, 100 million, 1 billion b.‑pengő |
| Coins | (all withdrawn) |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) |
 Kingdom of Hungary Republic of Hungary
|
| Issuance | |
| Central bank | Hungarian National Bank |
| Website | www |
| Printer | Hungarian Banknote Printing Corp. |
| Website | www |
| Mint | Hungarian Mint Ltd. |
| Website | www |
|
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.
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pengő (Hungarian)
The pengő (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈpɛnɡøː], sometimes written as pengo or pengoe in English) was the currency of Hungary between 1 January 1927, when it replaced the korona, and 31 July 1946, when it was replaced by the forint. The pengő was subdivided into 100 fillér. Although the introduction of the pengő was part of a post-World War I stabilisation program, the currency survived for only 20 years and experienced the most serious hyperinflation ever recorded.
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. (The onomatopoeic word used for gold coins is csengő, an equivalent of English 'clinking' meaning a sharper sound; the participle used for copper coins is kongó meaning a deep pealing sound.) After the introduction of forint paper money in Hungary, the term pengő forint was used to refer to forint coins literally meaning 'ringing forint', figuratively meaning 'silver forint' or 'hard currency'.
At the beginning of the First World War precious metal coins were recalled from circulation, and in the early 1920s all coins disappeared because of the heavy inflation of the Hungarian korona. The name pengő was probably chosen to suggest stability. However, there was some controversy when choosing the name of the new currency, though the majority agreed that a Hungarian name should be chosen. Proposals included turul (a bird from Hungarian mythology), turán (from the geographical name and ideological term Turan), libertás (the colloquial name of the poltura coins issued by Francis II Rákóczi), and máriás (the colloquial name of coins depicting Mary, patroness of Hungary).
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