The Hungarian Adópengő: The Tax Note Revalued by Radio Every Day
In 1946 Hungary ran two currencies at once. Alongside the collapsing pengő, the Ministry of Finance issued the adópengő, a "tax pengő" whose exchange rate against the pengő was recalculated and announced daily. It began at parity on 1 January 1946 and ended, seven months later, worth roughly two sextillion pengő.
Last updated: July 2026
The adópengő was a parallel Hungarian currency introduced on 1 January 1946 as an inflation-indexed unit of account, issued as physical tax bills from 30 May 1946, and made legal tender in the second week of July 1946. Unlike the pengő, it had no fixed value. The government recalculated the adópengő-to-pengő rate every day and announced it publicly, so a note's purchasing power was defined by the calendar rather than by anything printed on it. That single design decision makes the adópengő the most misdescribed banknote series in hyperinflation collecting, and it is the reason two reputable sources can quote wildly different pengő equivalents for the same note and both be right.
What was the adópengő?
The adópengő, literally "tax pengő", was an inflation-indexed accounting unit the Hungarian government introduced on 1 January 1946 to stop tax revenue from evaporating between the day a tax was assessed and the day it was paid.
The problem it solved was arithmetic. With prices doubling in a matter of days and then hours, a tax bill assessed in pengő at the start of a month was worth a fraction of its intended value by the time the payment cleared. Indexing the assessment to a unit that was revalued daily preserved the real amount owed. The adópengő started life as a pure accounting device used by the government and commercial banks, not as money in anyone's pocket, and on 1 January 1946 one adópengő equalled exactly one pengő (Hungarian adópengő, Wikipedia, citing Paal, 2000).
It did not stay an abstraction. Finance Minister Ferenc Gordon began issuing physical adópengő tax bills on 29 May 1946, and in the second week of July 1946 those bills became legal tender (Hungarian adópengő, Wikipedia, citing Paal 2000 and Bomberger and Makinen, 1983). Sources differ by a day on that date, giving either 8 or 9 July 1946, and we have not been able to resolve the discrepancy against a primary record; the substance, that the tax bill became money in the same week Hungary issued its largest banknote, is not in dispute. In the final weeks of the pengő, the adópengő was in practice the more trusted of the two currencies, because its indexation meant it held its footing while the pengő did not.
The daily rate, announced by radio
The adópengő's value against the pengő was reset each day and communicated publicly, including by radio announcement. One adópengő was worth one pengő on 1 January 1946, on the order of 109 pengő by 1 July 1946, and roughly 2 × 1021 pengő on 31 July 1946.
Read those three figures in sequence and the whole crisis is visible in one line. In the first half of 1946 the adópengő gained around nine orders of magnitude on the pengő. In the month that followed, it gained twelve more. The rate did not drift; it accelerated, and the acceleration is exactly what the Hanke-Krus World Hyperinflation Table records as the most extreme episode ever documented, with prices roughly doubling about every 15 hours at the July 1946 peak (Cato Institute).
| Date | 1 adópengő equalled | Orders of magnitude gained |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1946 | 1 pengő | — |
| 1 July 1946 | ~7.5 × 109 pengő | ~9 in six months |
| 31 July 1946 | ~2 × 1021 pengő | ~12 more in one month |
The daily index figures above are as published by Garami, "Hyperinflation in numbers" (Pénzportál). Published series for the adópengő index differ slightly between sources on the mid-year values, which is unsurprising for a rate that was reset every day during a collapse; the order of magnitude and the shape of the curve are consistent across all of them.
This is why the adópengő deserves its own page rather than a paragraph inside a general history. It is not simply another denomination in the pengő ladder. It is a different instrument, on a different clock, issued by a different authority.
The adópengő notes: denominations and dates
Seven adópengő denominations were printed and issued, from 10,000 to 100,000,000 adópengő. An eighth, the 1,000,000,000 adópengő, was prepared but never printed.
| Denomination | Hungarian | Printing date | Issue date | Pick no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 adópengő | Tízezer | 28 May 1946 | 13 June 1946 | P-143 |
| 50,000 adópengő | Ötvenezer | 25 May 1946 | 30 May 1946 | |
| 100,000 adópengő | Egyszázezer | 28 May 1946 | 13 June 1946 | P-144 |
| 500,000 adópengő | Ötszázezer | 25 May 1946 | 30 May 1946 | P-139 |
| 1,000,000 adópengő | Egymillió | 25 May 1946 | 30 May 1946 | P-140a |
| 10,000,000 adópengő | Tízmillió | 18 July 1946 | July 1946 | P-141 |
| 100,000,000 adópengő | Százmillió | 25 July 1946 | July 1946 | P-142 |
| 1,000,000,000 adópengő | Egymilliárd | Never printed | Never issued |
The 100,000,000 adópengő of 25 July 1946 is the last banknote Hungary produced before the currency reform. It was printed six days before the pengő and adópengő were both withdrawn. The Hungarian Postal Savings Bank also issued non-interest-bearing savings certificates denominated in 10,000 and 100,000 adópengő in June 1946, which turn up occasionally and are sometimes mistaken for the tax bills.
How to read an adópengő note
The text on an adópengő bill describes an obligation, not a store of value. It states the tax purposes the note can settle and the date after which it lapses, which is why the notes read more like a voucher than like currency.
The wording on the 100,000 adópengő bill translates as a tax voucher for 100,000 tax pengő, to be used until 31 July 1946 for payment of communal taxes, utility fees and other services, over the signature of Finance Minister Gordon Ferenc. Three things follow from that text. The instrument had a stated expiry from the moment it was printed. It was issued by the finance ministry rather than the central bank, which is why its designs are plainer than the National Bank's pengő notes. And it names a purpose, which is the clearest possible evidence that the adópengő was engineered as a fiscal tool that was pressed into service as money, rather than designed as money from the start.
A note on pengő equivalents. Because the rate moved daily, any statement of the form "the 100,000 adópengő note equalled X pengő" is only true on one particular date. Dealer listings and reference sites frequently quote such equivalents without the date attached, which is how the same denomination ends up described as being worth quantities that differ by several orders of magnitude. When you see a pengő equivalent for an adópengő note, ask which day it refers to.
How the adópengő ended
Both currencies were withdrawn on 31 July 1946 and replaced by the forint on 1 August 1946. The adópengő converted at 200 million adópengő to one forint; the pengő converted at 4 × 1029 to one.
The gap between those two conversion rates is the adópengő's epitaph. It was designed to hold its value against the pengő, and by that narrow measure it succeeded: at the changeover it was worth some twenty-one orders of magnitude more than the currency it was indexed against. It failed at the larger task, because indexing a unit to a collapsing currency preserves relative value and not purchasing power. Adópengő tax bills remained redeemable until they finally lapsed on 30 September 1946. The full account of the changeover is in how the pengő became the forint.
Collecting adópengő notes
Adópengő bills are among the most affordable notes from the most extreme hyperinflation in history, and the complete seven-note denomination run is achievable for a collector working patiently.
They are also, in our experience, the most consistently underestimated notes in the series. Collectors chasing the record denominations gravitate to the b.-pengő issues and pass over the adópengő entirely, which keeps prices modest for a note that carries a genuinely distinct monetary story. Planet Banknote stocks adópengő notes individually and has offered five-note denomination sets covering the 10,000 through 1,000,000 range. Availability rotates; the 1,000,000 adópengő (P-140a) in circulated XF is $107 at the time of this update, and Planet Banknote retail prices change with inventory.
Condition on these is worth a moment's thought. Because the adópengő circulated as money in its final weeks, genuinely uncirculated examples of the later denominations are less common than the printing figures suggest, and a crisp note carries a real premium over a used one. Our grading guide explains the 1 to 70 scale, and graded vs raw covers when certification is worth paying for on affordable notes like these.
Frequently asked questions
What was the adópengő?
The adópengő, meaning "tax pengő", was a parallel Hungarian currency introduced on 1 January 1946 as an inflation-indexed unit of account, so that tax revenue would not lose value between assessment and payment. It was issued as physical tax bills from 30 May 1946 and became legal tender in the second week of July 1946. Its exchange rate against the pengő was recalculated and announced daily.
How much was an adópengő worth in pengő?
It depends entirely on the date, because the rate was reset daily. One adópengő equalled one pengő on 1 January 1946, approximately 7.5 × 109 pengő on 1 July 1946, and roughly 2 × 1021 pengő on 31 July 1946. Any single pengő equivalent quoted for an adópengő note is a snapshot of one particular day.
Who issued the adópengő notes?
The Hungarian Ministry of Finance, under Finance Minister Ferenc Gordon, rather than the Hungarian National Bank which issued the pengő, milpengő and b.-pengő notes. That is why adópengő bills carry the finance minister's signature, use plainer designs, and describe themselves as tax vouchers with a stated expiry date.
What adópengő denominations were issued?
Seven: 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000, 10,000,000 and 100,000,000 adópengő. The 50,000 and 500,000 were issued on 30 May 1946, the 10,000 and 100,000 on 13 June 1946, and the two largest were printed on 18 and 25 July 1946. A 1,000,000,000 adópengő note was planned but never printed.
What happened to adópengő notes when the forint arrived?
They were withdrawn on 31 July 1946, one day before the forint was introduced, and converted at 200 million adópengő to one forint. They remained redeemable until they finally lapsed on 30 September 1946. Surviving notes are now collected as artifacts of the most extreme hyperinflation ever documented.
Are adópengő notes rare?
The denominations vary. The earlier and lower denominations survive in reasonable quantity and are among the more affordable notes from the 1946 crisis. The two largest, printed in the final weeks of July 1946, had the shortest production runs. Because the adópengő circulated as money in its final weeks, genuinely uncirculated examples of the later notes are scarcer than the printing dates alone would suggest.
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Browse current adópengő and pengő stock in the Hungary collection, see every denomination in the complete series catalog, or read the crisis in full in the Hungary hyperinflation guide.