Hungarian National Bank issues beautiful new forint coins commemorating the Hungarian space mission

The Hungarian Central Bank has announced plans to issue new forint coins this fall to commemorate the recently completed space mission. Tibor Kapu spent 18 days in space—longer than originally planned—contributing to both Hungarian and international scientific research with a series of successful experiments and studies across numerous fields.

The central bank regularly releases commemorative coins to honour various anniversaries and significant events. The last time a Hungarian astronaut was featured on a coin was in 1980, following the successful mission of Bertalan Farkas. Farkas gained immense popularity upon returning from space, famously reading bedtime stories from orbit and taking a TV mascot along with him on the mission.

Kapu Tibor followed in his footsteps this year. Despite multiple launch delays, he ultimately spent 18 days in orbit rather than the planned 14. Like his predecessor, Kapu completed numerous experiments and analyses, and both he and the scientific community have deemed the mission a success.

According to the Hungarian National Bank, the new commemorative coin will feature half-profile portraits of Kapu and his backup, Gyula Cserényi, who also completed all training requirements. The reverse side will depict symbols of the HUNOR Hungarian space program, including the mythical Csodaszarvas (Miraculous Deer) as a constellation, alongside imagery representing the meeting point of Earth and outer space.

The bank stated that “the commemorative coins—with face values of 20,000 forints in silver and 3,000 forints in colored metal—are expected to be released in the fall of 2025.” Here are the front and back designs:

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