Hungary 1946 10,000,000 B.-Pengő Pick 135 Hyperinflation Banknote PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated

Hungary 1946 10,000,000 B.-Pengő Pick 135 Hyperinflation Banknote PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated

This impressive Hungary National Bank 1946 10,000,000 B.-Pengő banknote is Pick P-135, certified by PMG as 64 Choice Uncirculated. The note is dated June 3, 1946 and belongs to the extraordinary B.-pengő series issued during the final months of Hungary’s post-World War II hyperinflation. In Hungarian monetary terminology, “B.-Pengő” abbreviated billió pengő, so the printed denomination represented an astonishing 10 quintillion pengő (10¹⁹ pengő).

The face is executed in a rich violet-purple palette and presents the denomination Tízmillió B.-Pengő prominently at center. Hungary’s crowned national arms appear at left, while an engraved male portrait occupies the right-hand panel. Dense ornamental engraving, repeated denomination inscriptions, and elaborate security-style line work give the note the formal appearance of traditional Hungarian currency even as its enormous denomination reflects the rapidly deteriorating monetary conditions of 1946.

The reverse is dominated by a large dove carrying an olive branch, framed by bold “B” denomination devices and intricate ornamental borders. The peace imagery is particularly appropriate to the immediate postwar period, when Hungary was coping with extensive wartime destruction, economic dislocation, shortages, reparations obligations, and a monetary system undergoing catastrophic depreciation.

Hungary’s pengő hyperinflation accelerated dramatically during 1945 and 1946. Ordinary pengő denominations quickly became impractical, leading authorities first to employ increasingly massive face values and then abbreviated accounting units such as milpengő and B.-pengő. The progression of denominations became so rapid that notes with values measured in millions of B.-pengő were required for transactions that only a short time earlier would have involved vastly smaller sums. These issues therefore provide unusually direct physical evidence of one of the most severe monetary collapses of the twentieth century.

The crisis ended with the introduction of the Hungarian forint in August 1946, replacing the virtually worthless pengő and beginning a new monetary era. B.-pengő notes such as this 10,000,000 B.-Pengő P-135 consequently belong to the final chapter of the old currency system and have become important artifacts for collectors studying hyperinflation, postwar European economic history, and the evolution of Hungarian paper money.

Certified PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated, this example combines strong certified preservation with an exceptionally evocative denomination from Hungary’s famous hyperinflation series. Its monumental face value, elaborate engraved design, peace symbolism, and direct connection to the final weeks of the pengő make it an excellent representative piece for collections of Hungarian currency, world banknotes, graded paper money, and historic hyperinflation issues.