Extreme Banknotes
Hungary 10 Millió B-Pengő 1946 P#135 UNC PMG 64 EPQ
Hungary 10 Millió B-Pengő 1946 P#135 UNC PMG 64 EPQ
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Hungarian 10 million bpengo hyperinflationary banknote from 1946
The banknote is authenticated and graded by PMG, recieving 64 out of 70 points, meaning it is in Uncirculated condition, as well as having an EPQ (Exceptional Paper Quality) grading.
The denomination B.-Pengő meant one billion pengoes, i.e., 10^12, making this banknote worth ten quintillion Pengő. As it was difficult for the Hungarian population at the time to comprehend such colossal numbers, the National Bank had decided to place only the letter 'b' in front of 'Pengő', to make it easier to understand.
Since these hyper-inflationary banknotes were printed in ever greater variety in the cold and hungry months of 1945-1946, the population would usually only identify them by their colour, calling them 'the red', 'the pink', 'the purple', etc.
These banknotes had been in circulation only for a few weeks during the summer of 1946 after World War 2, and are very difficult to find in good, or uncirculated condition. They are also difficult to find unfolded, as these are larger than the previously used, non inflationary pengő banknotes. They did not fit into most wallets, thus were immediately folded upon receipt.
B-pengő print runs were limited in numbers. Estimated print-run of the 1 million B-pengő is between 1 and 1.4 million only. As a comparison, a modern $1 star note bill with a 4 million print-run is considered rare, and a 640,000 one is very rare.
The reasons behind the short print-runs is the hyperinflation in Hungary after World War 2. New and larger denominations had to be created one after the other, and these higher and higher denominations added a significant liability to the balance sheet of the Hungarian National Bank.
