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10 Forint Kossuth bankó
| Issuer | Hungarian Ministry of Finance |
|---|---|
| Year | 1848 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S117 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is dominated by an elaborate guilloche border with scrollwork corners framing a central text panel. The anti-forgery warning is printed in five languages: Hungarian, German, Slovak, Croatian, and Serbian (in Cyrillic script), each paragraph set in period letterpress typography. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The "Kossuth bankó" series of 1848 was Hungary's first domestically issued paper currency, authorized by the revolutionary government under Lajos Kossuth as Finance Minister — a direct assertion of fiscal independence from Vienna during the upheaval of that year. Designed and engraved by József Tyroler and printed in Budapest, the notes were produced under genuinely difficult wartime conditions, with limited materials and no established state printing infrastructure.
The watermark security measure was modest by contemporary European standards, and the notes were widely counterfeited, a problem that plagued the series almost immediately after issue. Following the suppression of the Hungarian revolution by Austrian and Russian forces in 1849, the Habsburg authorities declared the Kossuth bankók invalid — possession was briefly treated as evidence of political sedition.