100,000 forint – Saint Elisabeth of Hungary

On 19 November 2021, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank is issuing a gold collector coin with an exceptionally high face value of 100,000 forints and its non-ferrous metal version of 2,000 forints, named ‘Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet’ (Saint Elizabeth of Hungary). The collector coin is issued as the third piece of the coin series presenting the saints of the Árpád dynasty, following the Saint Margaret of Hungary and the Saint Irene of Hungary coins issued in 2017 and in 2019, respectively. The collector coins were designed by applied artist Zoltán Endrődy. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary was one of the best known and most beloved saints in the Middle Ages, the patroness saint of wives, young mothers, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the serving love. Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary (1205–1235) and Gertrude of Merania, sister to Béla IV of Hungary, and wife to Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia. After the birth of her first child, she established a shelter for the orphans, and after the birth of her second child she founded a spital. In 1225, during the great famine, she ordered to open a food store in Wartburg to feed the poor and care for those in need. After her husband’s death, she lived in humble conditions until her death in 1231, at the age of 24. Although the Emperor asked her to marry him, she chose to serve the poor. In 1235, 4 years after her death, she was canonised by Pope Gregory IX. This was the time when the legend of her being a woman dedicated to the poor, active in the wider community beyond her family and a role model for contemporaries and the succeeding generations emerged. Paying homage to Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank is issuing a gold collector coin with a face value of 100,000 forints and its non-ferrous metal version of 2,000 forints, as the third piece of the series presenting the saints of the Árpád dynasty. The obverse features a quote from Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, in eight horizontal lines and between two vertical bars: ‘AZT MONDOM NEKTEK, HOGY ÖRÖMET KELL SZEREZNÜNK AZ EMBEREKNEK…’ (I say unto you to fill people’s hearts with joy). The compulsory design elements of collector coins are also found on the obverse: the inscription ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’ (Hungary), the denominations ‘100,000’ and ‘2,000’ the lettering ‘Ft’, the mint year ‘2021’ and the mint mark ‘BP.’. The central element of the reverse is the figure of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary standing in a pointed gateway, inspired by the painted wooden statute of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in the Church of St. Elizabeth of the House of Árpád in Budapest. The representation is a double reference to the two miracles of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, i.e. to the Miracle of the Roses and the Miracle of the Cross. To the left of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, in four lines, is the inscription of her Hungarian name ‘SZT. w ERZSÉBET’ and the dates of her birth and death ‘1207-1231’. The designer’s master mark, Zoltán Endrődy, is placed at the bottom of the collector coin, to the right of the figure of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.