Paper money of the Hungarian pengő

Hungarian pengő paper money (Hungarian: pengő papírpénz) was part of the physical form of Hungary's historical currency, the Hungarian pengő. Paper money usually meant banknotes, which were issued (either in fact or in name) by the Hungarian National Bank. Later – during and after World War II – other types of paper money appeared, including emergency money, bonds and savings certificates.

In the beginning, paper money was designed abroad, and were printed using simple methods. Later, developed techniques were used creating banknotes which reflected stability. After the war, in parallel with the value loss, the quality of banknotes decreased. Finally, not even serial numbers were printed on the notes.

The first series of pengő banknotes were printed in 1926 with the following denominations: 5 P, 10 P, 20 P, 50 P, and 100 P. All banknotes were designed by Ferenc Helbing. Due to the poor printing technology (offset printing) counterfeits appeared in a short time. The situation was so serious that the banknotes had to be replaced with a new series in a short time. As a consequence, these belong to the most valued collector rarities among the Hungarian banknotes.

The first denomination of the second series of pengő banknotes was the 1000 pengő note, designed by Zoltán Egri. Contrary to the 1926-series, this banknote (as well as the other bills of these series) was printed using intaglio printing. The next banknote of the series is the 5 pengő note (dated 1928), then the 10 pengő (1929), 20 and 100 pengő (1930), and the 50 pengő notes (1932) were issued. These banknotes were designed by Álmos Jaschik.

In 1938, a series of 50 fillér, 1, 2, and 5 pengő bills were designed by Franke Rupert. The aim of the National Bank was to quickly supply the territories of which Hungary gained control according to the First and Second Vienna Awards with low denomination money. However, only the 1 and 5 pengő bills were put into circulation but printer's proof of the others also exist. Since the amount of 1 P bills allowed by the serial number proved to be insufficient, a second issue was printed that was marked with a star in the serial number.

...
Wikipedia