500 Forint

The 1990 500 Forint arrived during one of Hungary's more turbulent monetary moments — the country was mid-transition from a command economy, and the forint was under sustained inflationary pressure throughout the late 1980s and into 1990. By 1995, 500 forints had lost enough purchasing power that this denomination was effectively obsolete for everyday transactions.

A print run of just over twelve million is relatively modest for a circulating denomination, which partly accounts for the difficulty in finding genuinely well-circulated examples — many were quickly superseded and withdrawn rather than worn out through normal use. Engraving duties were split, with Nagy handling the obverse himself and Gál Ferenc responsible for the reverse plate.