Hungary 1 Quadrillion pengo 1946 P-131 banknote - Hyperinflation - UNC
Important: The images of the Egymilliárd Milpengő note as graded (64) by the PMG are to demonstrate the quality of the banknote on offer for comparison and is NOT included in the sale.
World's Greatest Banknotes - Hyperinflation
Long before Zimbabwe's hyperinflation of 2008, there was Hungary's, to-date unparalleded, inflation in 1946.
With Hungary's currency, the Pengo, tied to the gold standard, the nation plunged into a fiat-currency catastrophe when the retreating Nazis looted Hungary's gold reserves. By June 1946, this event had propelled Hungary into a state of extreme hyperinflation. At its zenith in June 1946, the inflation rate skyrocketed to an astonishing 40 quadrillion percent.
Following the Pengo's collapse and the introduction of the new Forint currency, as well as the Allies' return of Hungary's gold reserves, the exchange rate between the Pengo and the new Forint was set at an unimaginable 1 Forint for a mind-boggling 400 octillion Pengo!
Known colloquially in Hungary at the time as a “blue” (due to its gargantuan face value), the Egymilliárd Milpengő – Hungarian for 1 Billion-Million pengő (or 1 quadrillion Pengő) - banknote was printed by the Republic of Hungary in 1946, during a period of massive hyperinflation.
Produced in Budapest by the Hungarian Banknote Printing Corporation under the authority of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), the notes were first issued to the public on June 3rd,1946, but were soon withdrawn due to the introduction of a new forint currency.
The banknote features Lendvay Lúcia, a beautiful teacher from Székesfehérvár / Stuhlweißenburg who has become, by way of these banknotes, an anonymous celebrity. Little appears to be known to the world of Lúcia, or her llife story, other than she posed for the illustration designed by Endre Horváth in 1946.
With its astounding face value of 1 quadrillion Pengő, and with banknotes destined soon to be obsolete , this remarkable specimen represents one of the highest-denominated banknotes ever issued and is an indispensable addition to any collection of hyperinflation-era notes.
World's Greatest Banknotes - Hyperinflation - Top 25 by Face Value
1. Hungary 1946 - 1 Sextillion Pengo (not issued)
2. Hungary 1946 - 100 Quintillion Pengo
3. Hungary 1946 - 10 Quintillion Pengo
4. Hungary 1946 - 1 Quintillion Pengo
5. Hungary 1946 - 100 Quadrillion Pengo
6. Hungary 1946 - 10 Quadrillion Pengo
7. Hungary 1946 - 1 Quadrillion Pengo
8. Hungary 1946 - 100 Trillion Pengo
9. Zimbabwe 2008 - 100 Trillion Dollars
10. Zimbabwe 2008 - 50 Trillion Dollars
11. Germany 1923 - 20 Trillion Marks
12. Zimbabwe 2008 - 20 Trillion Dollars
13. Germany 1923 - 10 Trillion Marks
14. Zimbabwe 2008 - 10 Trillion Dollars
15. Germany 1923 - 5 Trillion Marks
16. Germany 1923 – 2 Trillion Marks
17. Germany 1923 - 1 Trillion Marks
18. Yugoslavia 1993 – 500 Billion Dinars
19. Germany 1923 - 100 Billion Marks
20. Greece 1944 - 100 Billion Drachma
21. Yugoslavia 1993 – 50 Billion Dinars
22. Zimbabwe 2008 – 50 Billion Dollars
23. Zimbabwe 2008 – 20 Billion Dollars
24. Zimbabwe 2008 – 10 Billion Dollars
25. Yugoslavia 1993 – 5 Billion Dinars