Pengő
The pengő ("sounding coin") was the currency of Hungary from January 1, 1927 to July 31, 1946 . One pengő was equivalent to 100 fillér (German heller ).
The introduction after the First World War
After the First World War , the krona (Hungarian corona ), the previous currency of Hungary , which originated from the time of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, lost more and more of its value due to the threat of inflation . In order to restore economic stability, the pengő was introduced as the new currency. On the date it was issued, 3800 pengő corresponded to 1 kg of gold and 1 pengő corresponded to 12,500 crowns. In contrast to the crown, however, no golden pengő were issued. The exchange rate against the Reichsmark set as part of the gold standard was 0.73 in 1932.
The end after the Second World War
The pengő lost almost all of its value due to the lost Second World War and the subsequent destruction and the onset of hyperinflation . In order to prevent a further rise in inflation, the tax pengő ( Hungarian adópengő ) was first introduced, which, however, could no longer prevent the end of the pengő. The rate between the pengő and the adópengő was recalculated daily. The prices doubled on average within 15 hours. Contemporary media reports give a vivid impression of the difficulties of economic life:
“It is really a mystery how business can be carried out at all with this unheard of worthlessness of money? The businessmen run into the bank with the trillions and quadrillions to invest the income in tax pengö, the imaginary currency; the civil servant and clerk rushes from the cash register into the first grocery store that comes his way and randomly buys everything he gets for his money, the businessman again runs to the bank or to the jeweler for gold, the black marketeer and the better-off for them At lunchtime to your jeweler and let yourself be pinned off one or two grams from the gold chain and paid out in crackling bills, and that goes on until Saturday. On Saturday at noon, prices skyrocket, because the bank closes at 12 noon and it's a long time until Monday. "
The devaluation accelerated significantly in the weeks following this report. As a result, everyday business at the height of the crisis was mostly carried out in kind (eggs, sugar, cigarettes, matches) or dollars. The stability of the Hungarian economy could only be achieved with the introduction of a new currency. The forint was introduced on August 1, 1946 , and when it was introduced it was changed to 400 quadrillion (a 4 with 29 zeros; written out 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) pengő or 200 million tax pengő.
Amount of money in circulation
- December 31, 1939: 975 million pengő
- December 31, 1945: 765.446 billion pengő
Footnotes
- ↑ See: List of exchange rates (gold standard)
- ↑ From A – Z: Das Konversationslexikon; Berlin 1932, Col. 417 ff.
- ↑ a b Frank Stocker: Venezuela's inflation rate is aiming for one million percent. In: welt.de . July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Hungary expects the guilder currency. In: Weltpresse. Independent news and voices from all over the world / world press , July 8, 1946, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Budapest pays with eggs and sugar. In: Weltpresse. Independent news and voices from all over the world / world press , July 25, 1946, p. 8 (online at ANNO ).
