Catalog
5 Forint Philadelphia
| Issuer | Hungarian Revolutionary Government (Kossuth) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a muscular arm rising from clouds and grasping a hammer, flanked by two allegorical female figures seated at left and right within oval frames bearing the numeral 5. The denomination ÖT FORINT appears in two cartouches at lower left and right, with the large title ÖT FORINT inscribed in a curved banner across the top. Hungarian municipal arms appear at lower left and right corners, and a beehive vignette is present at the lower centre. Hungarian text in two columns fills the body of the note, with the manuscript signature of Kossuth Lajos at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ÖT FORINT |
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| Comments |
Lajos Kossuth arrived in the United States in December 1851 to an extraordinary popular reception, and these notes were produced during his fundraising tour as instruments of a government-in-exile that no longer controlled a single square kilometer of Hungarian territory. The 1848–49 revolution had been crushed by Habsburg and Russian forces, and Kossuth spent years attempting to finance a return. Philadelphia printer Mossin, Capehart and Eckberg & Co. produced this series, with Kossuth's own signature applied — a deliberate act of legitimacy for notes backed by nothing but expectation.
They were never redeemed. The anticipated second uprising never materialized, and most American buyers likely knew they were purchasing a political statement as much as a financial instrument.