200 Forint

Hungary's 200 forint denomination was introduced in 1998 partly to ease pressure on the 100 forint coin, which had become Hungary's primary workhorse coin following the redenomination that eliminated the krajcár-era subunits in the 1990s. By 2009 the type had settled into this bimetallic format, though the denomination itself was quietly controversial — the Hungarian public consistently confused it with the 100 forint coin in circulation, a complaint that followed the series for years. The forint itself had survived a turbulent decade, with Hungary narrowly avoiding IMF-administered austerity after the 2008 financial crisis forced emergency borrowing of 20 billion euros.