500 Forint 1956 October Revolution

Issued in 2006 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the October 1956 uprising, this commemorative note circulated as legal tender rather than being released purely as a collector item — an unusual choice that put anniversary paper into everyday wallets. The revolt itself lasted less than two weeks before Soviet tanks crushed it, and the subsequent Kádár government spent decades suppressing its memory; by 2006, the Hungarian state was formally rehabilitating 1956 as a founding moment of democratic identity.

György Pálinkás handled both design and engraving, an uncommon consolidation of roles for Magyar Pénzjegynyomda production. The obverse design credit shared with Ádám Mányoki refers to the original portrait painter whose 18th-century work was adapted for the standard 500 forint series — Pálinkás worked within that established framework rather than starting fresh.