20 April 2017

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank continues its silver collector coin series, launched in 2010, presenting Hungary’s national parks. The coin issued in 2017 features the Bükk National Park to mark the 40th anniversary of the designation of the Bükk Mountains as a national park. The Bank will issue the coin in silver with a face value of HUF 10,000 and in non-ferrous metal with a face value of HUF 2,000 on 21 April 2017. The special, rectangular collector coin will be issued as the fourth piece of the series, following the coins presenting the Őrség, the Duna-Dráva and the Duna-Ipoly National Parks.

Both collector coins are Hungarian legal tender, although they have not been minted for circulation purposes. The coins have been issued as part of the series presenting Hungary’s national parks, and therefore their themes and topics closely follow those of the previous pieces of the series, which showcase species of animal or plant characteristic of the individual national parks on the obverse and a detail of landscape or a vista-like representation of a building on the reverse.

The silver and gold coins have the same design, the only difference being the value numerals. The collector coins attempt to present the uniqueness of the Bükk National Park and the values of nature and cultural heritage. Their obverse features a representation of the stemless carline thistle, the emblematic plant of the Bükk National Park, which also appears in the Park’s logo. The coin has on its obverse the standard design elements: the denominations 10,000 FORINT and 2,000 FORINT, the legend MAGYARORSZÁG, the mint year 2017, and the mint mark BP containing a micro sized safety feature.

The reverse features the Szeleta Cave, Hungary’s most well-known domestic archaeological site, pictured from the Cave’s inside. Here relics of a primitive man have been found for the very first time in the history of Hungary. The left side of the coin bears the inscription ‘SZELETA-KULTÚRA’, which has been named after the Cave, by virtue of the characteristics of the relics and the richness of evidence discovered for the first time. It denotes a Central European archaeological culture which is primarily characterised by laurel-leaf and willow-leaf shaped flint-knapped stone tools worked on both sides (scrapers and projectile points), and is associated with the Neanderthal man.

 

 

The left side of the picture shows a representation of a spearhead found in the Cave, probably dated 40,000 BC, separated from the central design element. The inscription ‘BÜKKI NEMZETI PARK’ is also placed here. The collector coins were designed by applied artist Gábor Kereszthury. His master mark is shown in the lower right corner on the reverse.

The collector coin with a face value of HUF 10,000 is struck in .925 fine silver and weighs 31.46 grams. The non-ferrous metal coin is made from an alloy of copper (75%) and nickel (25%) and weighs 27 grams. The two coins have the same size of 26.4x39.6 mm. They have a horizontal rectangle shape and their edge is smooth.

The mintage limit of both coins is 5,000. The silver coin is produced in proof finish and the non-ferrous metal coin in BU finish. Another interesting feature of the silver coin is that the main motif on its obverse has been made using a special laser technology, which generates three different surface structures of certain parts of the plant, lending the motif a unique light effect.

From 2014, all collector coins produced from precious metals will also be issued in low-cost versions made from non-ferrous metals. In order for collector coins to play their role as a store of value, the silver coin with a face value of HUF 10,000 and the non-ferrous metal coin with a face value of HUF 2,000, respectively, can be purchased at a price equal to the face value for three months after their issue and without a time limit, until stocks last.

The collector coins are distributed by the Hungarian Mint Ltd. They will be on sale from 21 April 2017 at the coin shop of the Mint (7 Báthory utca, Budapest) and in the Mint’s webshop (http://penzvero.hu/).

Magyar Nemzeti Bank