Catalog
100 Dollars New York
| Issuer | Hungarian Fund (Kossuth) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | HUNGARIAN FUND / ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS / THIS A CERTIFICATE / Will entitle the holder to / With Interest at the rate of / Four per Cent per annum from this date the principal / payable in ten equal annual Installments from the date of the establishment / in fact, of the Independent Hungarian Government, and the interest thereon payable / half yearly after the last above date, and at the National Treasury of such Government, / and either of its Authorized Agencies in London or New York. / Dated at NEW YORK |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted reverse, showing only the blind offset impression of the obverse vignettes and text visible through the thin white paper stock, with no additional design elements applied. |
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| Comments |
Lajos Kossuth arrived in the United States in December 1851 following the collapse of the Hungarian Revolution, and these notes were issued as part of his American fundraising campaign — ostensibly to finance a future renewed uprising against Habsburg rule. The Hungarian Fund notes were never redeemable in any conventional sense; they were essentially political instruments dressed as banknotes, sold to sympathetic American donors who understood they were backing a cause, not a currency.
Danforth, Bald & Co. were among the most reputable security printers in antebellum America, lending the issue a legitimacy of appearance that far exceeded its legal standing. Kossuth signed each note personally.