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2 Forint Kossuth bankó
| Issuer | Magyar Kereskedelmi Bank (Hungarian Commercial Bank) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1848 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Pink-tinted note with an ornate guilloche border enclosing the central text block. The denomination '2' appears in each corner, with the face value rendered in five languages along the vertical margins — Hungarian, German, Polish, Italian, and Serbian. The central legend in Hungarian typeface names the Magyar Kereskedelmi Bank as guarantor of silver redemption, below which three manuscript signatures appear, with a small rectangular stamp vignette at the lower centre and the series designation 'Sor NW.' to its left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain cream-coloured field framed by a delicate foliate guilloche border, the interior carrying the anti-forgery warning printed in five languages in letterpress: Hungarian, German, Slovak, Croatian, and Serbian (Cyrillic), each paragraph set in a period-appropriate blackletter or roman typeface appropriate to the language. |
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| Comments |
The "Kossuth bankók" — Kossuth notes — were issued in 1848 under the authority of the Hungarian revolutionary government, with the Hungarian Commercial Bank serving as nominal issuer largely for legal cover. The real driving force was Lajos Kossuth himself, then Finance Minister, who pushed through emergency paper money production to fund the uprising against Habsburg rule. Printing was handled domestically, an unusual and technically constrained choice that gave the series its distinctly rough-hewn character compared to contemporary Western European issues.
József Tyroler was a respected Budapest-based engraver, but domestic production capacity in 1848 was limited, and it shows. The notes circulated aggressively during the revolution and were declared void by Austrian authorities after the defeat of 1849.