2021-06-03
Other articles >
A lot doesn't mean good
As life shows, having the status of 'MOST-MOST' is not a guarantee of well-being and success. So, the tallest man in the world, Leonid Stadnik (height 253 cm), died of a stroke at the age of 44, and officially registered in medical history, the heaviest man, John Minnock (weight 635 kg), also barely reached the age of 41.
A similar fate befell the banknote of the largest denomination in the world ‒ the Hungarian penge. It can not be called happy, although this particular banknote is considered the largest in the world in its face value.
The Hungarian currency began to gain its rapid run-up as a result of the turbulent events that marked the history of this state after the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919. In addition to the RSFSR, it was the second Soviet country in the world.
However, it did not last long ‒ six months later, the supporters of the monarchical form of government, led by the former aide-de-camp of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, Miklos Horthy, again seized power in Hungary.
Horthy rode solemnly into Budapest on a white horse and began to put things in order. Implying that the monarch will return soon, the former aide-de-camp proclaims himself regent. 'The near future' had to wait no less than 24 years, during which many events took place in the country. In particular, a couple of attempts by the former King Charles IV to regain the throne were stopped. Whatever one may say, being the first, even if untitled, ruler is better than being an official aide-de-camp at the beck and call of the heir to the throne.
His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary first secured his political position by banning communist and fascist parties. Horthy was going to raise the economy, which was in a terrible crisis after all the military disasters, with the help of new allies. He saw them in the face of Great Britain and Italy, with which Hungary concluded cooperation agreements, as well as the German Reich.
By the 30s of the twentieth century, Hungary managed to reach the pre-war level of the economy. It was necessary to curb inflation, because the picture was frightening. If in 1910$ 1 was worth 5 Hungarian crowns, then in 1924-already 70 thousand!
It seemed that a way out had been found. In 1927, a monetary reform was carried out, as a result of which the official currency of the Hungarian state became the 'ringing coin' ‒ penge.
The history of this monetary unit began very prosaically with the issue of coins in denominations of 1, 2 and 5 penge. The success of the new money was partly due to the fact that its exchange rate against the old krona was 1:12,500.
However, the entry into the Second World War required huge budget expenditures on weapons, so inflation in the country began to gallop again. And after the end of the war, Hungary lay in ruins. Therefore, economic stability was out of the question. In addition, the leaders of the collaborationist pro-Nazi party 'Crossed Arrows', who on the eve of the capitulation took all the valuables and all the gold reserves out of the country, 'tried'.
In August 1945, the ratio of the penge to the dollar (1:1,320) could still be called predictable. In the course were banknotes with a face value of 5 penges
and ending with 10 thousand penges.
But by the end of the year, 128 thousand penges were given for 1 dollar. So the government had to introduce a new type of banknotes, in denominations of 100 thousand, 1 million and 10 million penges.
The year 1946 brought a new devaluation, and the national currency began to be called with prefixes that increase its value by hundreds of thousands of times: milpenge (meaning 1 million penge), bilpenge (million milpenge). Prices doubled every 15 hours. In the summer of ' 46, the Hungarian Mint had already printed 100 million bilpenga notes, and even prepared a sextillion penge banknote, which is the largest in the world in terms of its value.
It did not have time to go into circulation, as on August 1, hyperinflation in Hungary was stopped by the introduction of a new, more stable monetary unit ‒ the forint. Its value was simply indicated by the astronomical figure of 400 octillion penge, and the impoverished population had high hopes for the new money.
The attempt was successful, and the Forint managed to stabilize the economic situation in the country rising from the ruins. In addition, the allies in the face of the United States in August 1946 still returned to the Hungarian National Bank 30 tons of gold exported by Fascist henchmen outside the country during the period in power from October 1944 to March 1945.
Today, the forint is the hard national currency of Hungary, and few people remember the monstrous figures of hyperinflation and the largest bill that preceded its introduction.
Save the memory of the events that took place in the world in your collection banknotes, coins, brands, postcards, pictures. Program HOBBYKEEPER ONLINE, created by collectors for collectors, allows you to make this exciting process more convenient and attractive. Thanks to Hobby Keeper, you can simplify the systematization of information, as well as make complete online catalogs on any topics of interest. Now it's easy, convenient, and safe to take your online collection with you on a trip. Thanks to the adapted version programs, access to it is possible from any gadget and from any place on the world map.
Join us, and the impossible will become possible, and the inaccessible will become available together with Hobby Keeper!
