Catalog
500 000 Korona
| Issuer | Hungarian Royal Ministry of Finance |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | At right, a vignette of an allegorical female figure with a laurel wreath in her hair, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. The centre carries the denomination inscription ÖTSZÁZEZER KORONA in bold letterpress within an ornate guilloche border, above a text block stating the note's legal tender status dated BUDAPEST, 1923. ÉVI JULIUS HÓ 1-ÉN. The denomination 500,000 appears in all four corners against a violet-blue guilloche underprint, with the Hungarian coat of arms at upper centre. |
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| Obverse lettering | ÖTSZÁZEZER KORONA EZ AZ ÁLLAMJEGY A MELY MAGYARORSZÁG FÜGGŐ ADÓSSÁGÁNAK RÉSZE A TÖRVÉNY HATÁROZATAIHOZ KÉPEST MINDENKI ÁLTAL, VALAMINT MINDEN KÖZPÉNZTÁRNÁL FIZETÉSKÉPPEN TELJES NÉVÉRTÉKBEN ELFOGADANDÓ BUDAPEST, 1923. ÉVI JULIUS HÓ 1-ÉN PÉNZÜGYMINISTER AZ ÁLLAMJEGYEK UTÁNZÁSA A TÖRVÉNY SZERINTI BÜNTETTETIK 500,000 |
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By mid-1923, Hungary's postwar hyperinflation had progressed to the point where a 500,000 korona note was a practical necessity rather than an extravagance. The korona, already stripped of its Austro-Hungarian backing after 1918, had been sliding catastrophically — this denomination would itself become nearly worthless within months, eventually replaced when the pengő-predecessor stabilization currency, the korona's successor, was introduced in 1926.
The Magyar Pénzjegynyomda handled domestic printing throughout the inflation series. Orell Füssli of Zurich appears in the printer credits for related issues of the period, reflecting Hungary's reliance on Swiss facilities when domestic capacity or security paper supply was insufficient — a common arrangement among Central European states scrambling to keep pace with their own collapsing currencies.