Paper money of the Hungarian adópengő

The adópengő bonds and certificates served as money in the last days before the introduction of the Hungarian forint.

Tax bills

Adópengő (tax-pengő) was introduced on 1 January 1946. The aim was to create a numerical basis for budget calculations, which was independent from the daily changes. The index was created daily by the Institute for Economic Research (then: Magyar Gazdaságkutató Intézet, now: GKI Gazdaságkutató Zrt.) based on retail prices (weights: food and other agricultural products: 50%, industrial products (market price): 30%, and industrial products (fixed price): 20%).^[1] The so-called adójegy (tax bill - a bond for adópengő with two months maturity) was introduced in May 1946. First, tax bills were used to pay taxes and to register bank deposits and bank credits. From 23 June it was also used to pay public utility charges and from 8 July it became a legal tender, replacing the pengő, which almost totally lost its value by this time. When the tax-bills became legal tender, the even more serious adópengő inflation replaced the pengő inflation.^[2]

The "Ludas Matyi" humor magazine explains aptly the relationship between the pengő and the adópengő: "The pengő was the piece of paper that had no value, and the adópengő that was used to measure the value of the pengő."

Tax bills were designed by Endre Horváth.

Tax bills
Image		Value	Dimensions	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue	withdrawal	lapse
		10 000 adópengő	136 × 83 mm	Value	Application clause	28 May 1946	13 June 1946	31 July 1946	30 September 1946
		50 000 adópengő				25 May 1946	30 May 1946
		100 000 adópengő				28 May 1946	13 June 1946
		500 000 adópengő				25 May 1946	30 May 1946
		1 000 000 adópengő
		10 000 000 adópengő					18 July 1946	30 September 1946
		100 000 000 adópengő					25 July 1946
		1 000 000 000 adópengő					never	-	-
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Savings certificates

The Hungarian Postal Savings Bank issued adópengő non-interest-bearing savings certificates (nem kamatozó pénztárjegy) in June 1946, which also served as legal tender.

Non-interest-bearing savings certificate
Image		Value	Dimensions	Description		Date of
Obverse	Reverse			Obverse	Reverse	printing	issue	withdrawal	lapse
		10 000 adópengő

References

1. (Hungarian) mtdp0309.pdf (career of István Varga, an excellent economist of the era)
2. (Hungarian) rs1.szif.hu (Economy of Hungary after the Second World War)