The pengő (sometimes written as pengo or pengoe in English) was the currency of Hungary between 1 January 1927, when it replaced the korona, and 31 July 1946, when it was replaced by the forint. The pengő was subdivided into 100 fillér. Although the introduction of the pengő was part of a post-World War I stabilisation program, the currency survived only for 20 years and experienced the most serious hyperinflation ever recorded.
The Hungarian par...
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The pengő (sometimes written as pengo or pengoe in English) was the currency of Hungary between 1 January 1927, when it replaced the korona, and 31 July 1946, when it was replaced by the forint. The pengő was subdivided into 100 fillér. Although the introduction of the pengő was part of a post-World War I stabilisation program, the currency survived only for 20 years and experienced the most serious hyperinflation ever recorded.
The Hungarian participle pengő means 'twanging' (which in turn derives from the verb peng, an onomatopoeic word equivalent to English 'twang') and was used from the 15-17th century to refer to coins making a ringing sound when struck on a hard surface, thus indicating their precious metal content. After the introduction of forint paper money in Hungary, the term pengő forint was used to refer to forint coins.
At the beginning of the First World War precious metal coins were recalled from circulation, and in the early 1920s all coins disappeared because of the...
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