20000 Forint 2009, Hungary
| in Krause book | Number: 201 |
| Years of issue: | 2009 |
| Edition: | 100 400 000 |
| Signatures: | Unknown signature |
| Serie: | Second Series |
| Specimen of: | 1999 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 154 x 70 |
| Printer: | Magyar Pénzjegynyomda, Budapest |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Deák Ferenc.
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is made after this lithography of Ferenc Deák, as illustrated in his obituary in the Illustrated London News.
Ferenc Deák de Kehida (Croatian: Franjo Deák, 17 October 1803 - 28 January 1876) was a Hungarian statesman and Minister of Justice. He was known as "The Wise Man of the Nation".
Born in Söjtör in the county of Zala, in south-western Hungary, Deák belonged to an ancient noble family. He studied law, and became successively an advocate and notary. He first went into politics in 1833 when he attended the assembly of Pressburg (now Bratislava) as a replacement for his older brother, beginning his career that would make him one of the most important personalities in the Hungarian politics and reforms of the 1840s. His name became known as a result of his involvement in the suit of Miklós Wesselényi and his success in declaring the Hungarian Assembly's right to create laws.
In 1836, Deák wrote and distributed a document about the cases that he supported without the permission of the censors; while it was confiscated, it was already widespread and made his name familiar in important circles. He was involved in the creation of the 1839-1840 laws of the Assembly and became honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. After the death of his brother in 1842, he liberated his serfs and voluntarily chose to pay taxes to show that he was sincere about his reforms. The abolition of the exemption of the nobles from all taxation in the Kingdom of Hungary and the liberation of serfs were some of the most important endeavours of the Reformist movement of the era. However, he refused to attend the Diet of 1843-1844, supposedly due to strife surrounding the election.
In 1846, after the bloody end of the Polish uprising in Galicia the reformers gained popularity and they released the "Ellenzéki nyilatkozat" (Manifesto of the Opposition) under the name of Deák, while it was in fact created by Kossuth. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 against the Habsburg Empire, Deák stayed calm and opposed violence as a political tool. He accepted a position as Minister of Justice in the Batthyány Government, mostly to show his support of Lajos Batthyány.
Once part of the revolutionary government, Deák made several overtures to the court in Vienna, seeking a compromise between the Habsburg monarchy and Kossuth’s Extreme Liberals. When his efforts failed, he resigned his ministerial post, but remained a member of the Diet, defending the constitutional legitimacy of the April laws. He retired to his estate at Kehida before the end of the War of Independence, and took no further active part in events surrounding the revolution. An Austrian court martial acquitted him after Hungary’s defeat.
Deák spent most of the 1850s in semi-retirement, tacitly supporting various national causes without engaging in active politics. He, however, refused to assume any public role, office or position, thus becoming an emblem of the so-called passive resistance. He sold his estate to István Széchenyi, and moved to Buda to become the de facto leader of Hungarian public life. He steered a middle course between advocates of a second anti-Habsburg uprising aligned with Kossuth, and pro-Austrian collaborationists. The crisis attending the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859, with strong Hungarian popular support for the Italian cause, returned him to active political life, although he opposed the initial Austrian reform proposals of 1860. In the 1861 Diet, he became the leader of the group calling for a petition to the Austrian crown, throwing the onus for a settlement onto the Habsburg court. In response to his prompting, Franz Joseph I dismissed his current administration and called for a new diet to negotiate the settlement. Deák led the committee tasked with drafting a formula, working alongside Kálmán Tisza and other prominent contemporary politicians. The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 came just as they had completed their work, but Deák resisted extremist pressure to reopen the issue.
Gradually, Deák moderated his views on Hungary's independence. Although he maintained that the April Laws were fully valid, he began taking the line that foreign affairs, defence and finance were "common" to both Austria and Hungary under the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. He believed that a constitutional arrangement could be worked out to incorporate these ideas while still respecting Hungary's internal independence. He supported the "Compromise" (Ausgleich or Kiegyezés) of 1867, which incorporated these ideas, with all his strength, leading the delegation that signed the actual accord. Although he was the obvious choice as the first prime minister of the Hungarian half of the newly formed Austria-Hungary, he stood down in favour of Gyula Andrássy. After 1867 his health weakened the continuous work and the attacks on him by disappointed radical patriots used up most of his strength. His reformist ideas were often rejected by Parliament.
He died on 28 January 1876 and was buried with great pomp. Parliament created a law to remember his excellent service and ordered that a statue should be created from national donations. One of the central squares of Budapest, Deák Ferenc Square is today named after him, which is where three lines of the Budapest Metro come together. 
On the left side is Hungarian coat of arms.
The current coat of arms of Hungary was reinstated on July 3, 1990, after the end of communist rule. The arms have been used before, both with and without the Holy Crown of Hungary, sometimes as part of a larger, more complex coat of arms, and its elements date back to the Middle Ages.
The shield is split into two parts:
The dexter (left side from the viewer's point) features the so-called Árpád stripes, four Argent (silver) and four Gules (red) stripes. Traditionally, the silver stripes represent four rivers: Duna (Danube), Tisza, Dráva, and Száva.
The sinister (right side from the viewer's point) consists of an Argent (silver) double cross on Gules (red) base, situated inside a small Or (golden) crown, the crown is placed on the middle heap of three Vert (green) hills, representing the mountain ranges (trimount) Tátra, Mátra, and Fátra.
There are many myth ans legends about curved cross on the top of St.Stefan crown. But here is one of them, mostly known.
"What could have caused this damage, and when? In studying the history of the Holy Crown, were found the following: When King Albert died in 1439, his wife was already pregnant with the boy who would become László V. To secure the Crown for her son, she instructed her lady-in-waiting, the wife of Kottaner János, to steal it from Visegrád, where it was kept. She arranged the theft, packed the Crown in a large red velvet pillow, and covered it with cowhide. Then they took the Crown to Komárom, and from there to Székesfehérvár, where they crowned the 3-month old infant with it. The Queen, however, still would not relinquish the Crown, and instructed the same lady-in-waiting to take it to Győr. As Kottaner Jánosné wrote in her journal:
“I took the Holy Crown, and wrapped it very well in a shawl, and placed it in the cradle, among straw, because his highness did not sleep on feathers yet, and I also put a large spoon next to him, with which one usually amuses children. I did this so that, should anyone reach into the cradle, he should think there was something there with which one amuses the noble king. At that time, no one knew of this, except my gracious lady and myself.”
The cradle was placed on a cart, and the little king was placed in it. On the way, the infant was often taken out and placed back in. An infant’s weight corresponds perfectly with the pressure estimated by Gyergyai. In addition, the first repairs made to the Holy Crown correspond to the methods used around 1440." (Magyar news)
In the background the top floor of an old building of Representatives (on reverse).
Top left is guilloche window (as marked in comments).
On the left side is a hologram strip (as marked in comments)..
Denominations in numerals are top and in bottom right corner. In center in words.
Revers:
The engraving on banknote is made after this XIX century lithography by Ádám Slowikowsky: The Temporary Hungarian House of Representatives in Pest, 1865, colored engraving, Hungarian National Museum Historical Picture Gallery.
The eighth district of Budapest hosts, in Bródy Sándor utca 8, a building that from 1865 to 1902 was the seat of the Hungarian Parliament and which currently houses the Italian Cultural Institute in Budapest. This building is one of the nineteenth century most remarkable monuments in Budapest.
It was designed by Miklós Ybl, one of the greatest Hungarian architects, who also designed the Opera, the Saint Stephen's Basilica and the University of Economics. The building of the Institute is perhaps the best example of the neo-Renaissance Eclecticism school, and is also a key monument in the history of Hungarian politics.
In 1902, the Parliament moved to the final seat on the Danube bank, and until 1920 the Bródy Sándor utca 8 building hosted fairs and exhibitions. In November 1920, a projection booth was built upstairs to project movies.
In 1942, the Italian government came into possession of the building, according to an agreement signed in Rome in 1935. After extensive restoration work, the headquarters of the Italian Cultural Institute for Hungary was inaugurated on June 21, 1943, in the presence of Italian and Hungarian political figures. The Institute has a cinema hall (140 seats) and a hall for exhibitions, conferences, concerts and theater (500 seats). (9colonne)
In the foreground can be seen the bust of Ferenc Kazinczy. The bust is in the park of the National Museum (Nemzeti Múzeum parkjában), next to the Old Parliament House.
Ferenc Kazinczy (October 27, 1759 - August 23, 1831) was a Hungarian author, the most indefatigable agent in the regeneration of the Magyar language and literature at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. His name is today connected to the extensive Language Reform of the 19th century, when thousands of words were coined or revived, enabling the Hungarian language to keep up with scientific progress and become an official language of the nation in 1844.
Under and above the watermark field is micro print: MAGYAR NEMZETI BANK.
Top right are five squares for the visually impaired.
Denomination in numerals are at the top. Lower in words.
Comments:
A little bit about Italian culture building on the reverse.
During our stay, with my wife, in Budapest, in December 2014, I attempted to take a look at the building.
Regular readers of my site, probably, already noticed, that I make pictures of places, imprinted on the banknotes, together with myself. This "feature" came to me recently, in December 2013 (with photo on the 5 Dollars 2008 British Antarctic Territory on my site). Since then, I try to follow it. Probably everyone has a right to their "oddity" :).
But, back to the issue. We rented a room in an old mansion in Buda, built in 1908. The owner, as he said, lived all his life in Budapest. Needless to say, he said that we always welcome to contact him on all issues.
Since preliminary search of the location of this building, finally I have not been successful and asked the owner about it, showing him the bill. I must admit, that I threw him into confusion. He looked long at the note, as if I showed him something exotic.
Then he calls his friends and ask them, but ... no one was able to answer my question. In the end, he told me that most likely, the building was destroyed and, of course, does not exist today.
I had some doubts about it.
No one in Budapest, at least one I asked, did not answer - where it is. They have all read the inscription on the bill (as it is written in all references) - the first or the old building of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, and were at a loss.
Today it is an institution of Italian culture. Only now I could find this info at some of the Hungarian web page.
It is clear, that at the time of the creation of lithography, after which is made the engraving on banknote, noone has an idea about building of Italian culture. But I think, that in today's references would be nice to point out, that this is a house today.
Maybe, there are not many people, who are interested. But there are some - and I'm a prime example :). After all, if the directories give a description, not just, like, the indicative price (which, in fact, only indirectly meets reality), it would be possible to do it in more detailed way.
But, apparently, no one today has time for such "trifles". What a pity.
I got this banknote in Budapest, at 26 of December 2014.
Obverse engraver: Vagyoczki Karoly Del. Et.SC.
Reverse engravers: Pálinkás György, Vagyoczki Karoly Del. Et.SC
Security options:
Intaglio printing
The watermark is made in the form of a mirror image, repeating motif on the obverse.
Hologram stripe, depending on the angle, shows coat of arms of Bank of Hungary and abbreviation MNB. Denominations 20000 are along the strip.
In the ultraviolet, on the watermark field, you can see the man and woman, dressed in XIX century style (woman holding umbrella). This image changing color from red to blue in UV.
In the upper right corner is seen-through image with letter H.
In the upper left corner is gullioshed window with abbreviation MNB. It changes color from violet to brown (depends on the angle).
Microprint: HÚSZEZER FORINT and MNB on the borders. Along whole field of banknote: MAGYAR NEMZETI BANK.
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