2,000 forint - János Pilinszky

The Baumgarten, Attila József and Kossuth prize winner Hungarian poet is a member of the fourth generation, aka the New Moon, of the literary periodical, Nyugat. His experiences in concentration camps, Christian existentialism, subjective poetry and his own Catholic faith affected his poetry. He also wrote lyrical, epic pieces as well as dramatic plays in his life. He uses a language in his works which sounds passion bordering on agony. In his first volumes, through a personal tone of desire, love, sinfulness and threat, he draws the reader into the comprehensive pattern around the world. János Pilinszky wrote such famous pieces as the Apokrif, the Ravensbrücki passió (Passion of Ravensbrück), the Négysoros (Four Liner) – the latter being his most known epigram. To honour the 100th anniversary of the birth of János Pilinszky, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank is issuing a silver collector coin with a face value of 10,000 forints and its non-ferrous metal version of 2,000 forints today. On the obverse, the representation of a naked tree is seen on a grassland worn by wind with the rising sun in the background, which resembles an enlarged iris and pupil of a wide open eye. The design was inspired by the highlighted motif in János Pilinszky’s poem titled Apokrif. In addition, the compulsory design elements of collector coins are featured on the obverse: on the edge, in an upper circular legend the inscription ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’ (Hungary), next to it, separated by a dot the denominations ‘10,000’, and ‘2,000’ and the lettering ‘FORINT’, on the left the mint mark ‘BP.’, and on the right the mint year ‘2021’. On the reverse, the portrait of János Pilinszky is seen from a side view, displaying the poet leaning against a tree deep in thoughts, exhibiting a melancholic demeanour. The representation was inspired by the emblematic photo taken by András Szebeni. On the right of the coin, Pilinszky’s signature is placed, below the years ‘1921-1981’ referring to the birth and the death of the poet. The master mark of coin designer, sculptor Balázs Pelcz is inserted in the lapel of the coat.