Are there women on banknotes? Only portraits of men appear on modern banknotes. But it wasn't always like this! On the 8^th of March, on International Women's Day, we're celebrating women, so we made a list of the coins that have featured female figures throughout history. And to top it all off, one of the banknotes still in use today has a woman on it!

Metal coins in circulation from the 14^th century to 1995

In the Middle Ages, it was not until the Renaissance period that portraits of monarchs became commonplace on coins. Thus, the coat of arms of Mary (1382-1395), Hungary’s first queen, the eldest daughter of Lajos the Great, was placed on the obverse of our coins. King Matthias was also recognised only in legend by the portraits on his coins, as the coins did not actually bear his likeness in real life. On the reverse of his gold coins, however, there was the first printed female figure, the patron saint of Hungary, the Patrona Hungariae, i.e. the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus. Since then, this has remained the most common female figure on Hungarian coins. The next - and last - queen on the Hungarian throne in chronological order is Maria Theresa (1740-1780). During her four-decade reign, the image of the Queen appears on many denominations, typically on the higher denominations, but not on all types. Her standing figure appears on gold ducats and her portrait on silver and copper coins.

Mária Terézia, dukát, 1765

The designer immortalized her with a diadem in her youthful portrait and with a veil after the death of her husband, Ferenc Lotharingian (1765). The silver coin, which was also used as trade money but is now only minted for collectors and known as the SF-thalers because of the initials of the mint masters' names, continued to be produced after her death.

Mária Terézia, „SF-tallér”, 1780

Although she was a queen, not a queen, Queen Elizabeth appears twice on coins. True, these 2-gulden coins were not intended for daily circulation, but the denomination and other technical parameters are identical to circulation coins. In 1854, the marriage of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth provided the occasion for the issuance of the coins. The obverse shows a double portrait of the couple facing right, while the reverse depicts the marriage scene.

2 gulden, 1854

25 years later, in 1879, the jubilee 2 gulden (forint-like) was issued. The obverse again features the double portrait, while the reverse is inspired by antiquity: the goddess Fortuna is seated on a throne, with a horn of plenty on her left.

No woman was included on circulation coins other than the Patrona Hungariae until 1948. The 5 fillér with the head of a girl wearing a hat was official legal tender until 1992, but from the 1970s onwards the mintage gradually decreased, and was finally limited to collectors' sets. Interestingly, the right to depict the portrait was bought from the widow of the designer, Lajos Berán.

A female figure appears again on a circulation coin: a statue, specifically the statue of Liberty was chosen to appear on the 10-forint.

Paper banknotes
In many cases, numismatists and collectors have been able to identify the women on our coins, so we know the names of the people depicted. However, no woman has ever been depicted on Hungarian paper money "in her own right".

In 1848, a woman's head was depicted within a small medallion on the 100-forint, the highest denomination of the first Hungarian paper money.

In the 19^th century, experts already realised that portraits, especially a person’s gaze, are the most difficult to counterfeit. And since the issuance of paper money was not part of the sovereign's prerogative, it is not the sovereign’s but the portraits of models that we see on this type of money. On the crowns, the common currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there are several examples of statues or reliefs of female heads in classical style, and there is no shortage of allegorical female figures. Character portraits appear after the turn of the century. The models include Princess Rohan, Maria Miesel a model from Munich, and, later, on Hungarian state tickets, Countess Margaret Nemes.

The pengő notes are well known for the depiction of Palóc girls and bridesmaids, Valéria Rudas, Bözsi Sipeki, Julianna Csonka and the bridesmaid of Kalotaszentkirály, as well as the daughter of the designer’s colleague, Mária Bőle. Each banknote is a separate story. Ferenc Helbing even used the portrait of his daughter, who died young, for the Crown State notes, which was used on the inflation pengős at the end of the war.

The highest denomination printed but not put into circulation also shows a lady, Lúcia Lendvay, a resident of Székesfehérvár. However, not much more is known about her.

Just as little is known about the last woman to appear on a Hungarian banknote. She was the postmistress of the Banknote Printing House, János Jánosné Tőkés Gizella Várszegi.

A careful observer can also find a female figure on the back of the 500 HUF banknote in circulation today. The Patrona Hungariae appears as a hidden image, borrowed from a contemporary metal coin. This brings us back to the beginning, as the first female figure that appeared on a coin in the time of King Matthias is in use appeared on our currency once again.