A new addition to the coin series depicting the Hungarian national parks Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park collector coin

21 April 2023

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the first national park in Hungary, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank will issue a silver collector coin of 15,000 forints and its non-ferrous metal version with a face value of 3,000 forints as Earth Day approaches. The special rectangular commemorative coins are part of a series presenting Hungarian national parks, launched in 2010, which follow the Őrség, Danube-Drava, Danube-Ipoly, Bükk and Kiskunság National Parks. The Hortobágy National Park collector coins were designed by applied artist Gábor Kereszthury.

Established in 1973, the Hortobágy National Park is the first and most extensive national park in Hungary. Initially the area of the Hortobágy National Park spanned across 52,000 hectares, but as a result of continuous expansion and integration, it has grown to approximately 82,000 hectares. Our first national park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. For more than two thousand years, it has provided visible evidence of traditional pastoral land use and exemplified the harmonious relationship between man and nature. The grasslands, as a cultural landscape shaped by shepherd societies, are unique in their pattern and combination of distinctive landscape features, such as the endless horizon broken by distant shadoofs and the silhouettes of wild and backyard animals.

The MNB will issue a silver collector coin named Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park with a face value of 15,000 forint and its non-ferrous metal version of 3,000 forint to honour the national park and the 50th anniversary of its establishment. The primary role of collector coins is to educate and present our national values, therefore they are not to be used in everyday payments. Their face value serves to preserve the value the coins represent to collectors. The silver and the non-ferrous metal versions have the same design, the only difference being their denominations. The collector coins were designed by applied artist Gábor Kereszthury.

The coins will be 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 flora or fauna, characteristic of the individual national parks on the obverse and a piece of landscape or a view of a building on the reverse. The collector coins ‘Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park’ show two characteristics of the national park, a common crane, which is also a heraldic animal, and the scenery of the Puszta, with a shadoof in the centre.

The obverse features a group of wading cranes, one of the most distinctive species in the area. The design is completed by the inscription ‘DARU’. The compulsory design elements are also placed on the obverse: on the left, the inscription ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’ (Hungary), on the right in two lines the denominations ‘15000’ and ‘3000’ at the top as well as the lettering ‘FORINT’, the mint mark ‘BP.’ along with the minting year ‘2023’.

The obverse of the Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park collector coins

The reverse shows a view of the Hortobágy Puszta, with the sun in the background and a shaloof in the centre, a unique landscape feature that still serves as a junction between people and nature. Above the central motif, the inscription ‘HORTOBÁGYI NEMZETI PARK’ is seen. The designer's mark of applied artist Gábor Kereszthury is placed in the bottom left corner on the reverse.

The reverse of the Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park collector coins

The collector coin with a face value of HUF 15,000 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. Both versions are identical in size: 39.6 x 26.4 mm flat rectangle with smooth edges.

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. In order to promote the role of these collector coins to transfer value and educate as widely as possible, the silver coin ‘Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park’ will be available for purchase for three months, while stocks last, and the non-ferrous metal version for one year from the date of issuance, at face value in the webshop (https://www.penzvero.hu/) and coin shop of the Hungarian Mint Ltd. (Budapest, distr. V, 7 Báthory street), starting from 21 April 2023.