Constitutional Court Commemorative Coins

The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) issues a silver collector coin with a face value of HUF 10,000 and its non-ferrous metal version of HUF 2,000 to honor the Constitutional Court of Hungary and the 30th anniversary of its establishment.

The Constitutional Court was one of the crucial institutions of the democratic political transition in 1989-1990, and the revolution bringing into being the rule of law. Its key duty is to protect the rule of law and individual fundamental rights.

As the key institution to protect the Fundamental Law (that replaced the constitution of the country under the current government), the Constitutional Court of Hungary commenced its operation on January 1, 1990. Its duty is to protect the democratic rule of law, constitutional order and the fundamental rights provided in the Fundamental Law, to maintain the internal harmony of the legislative system and to ensure the separation of powers. Its most important competence is to remedy violations of the Constitution resulting from legislation or court decisions, based on a complaint by the Constitutional Court and the subsequent investigation into the compliance of legislative acts with the Fundamental Law. If a statue or a court ruling is against the Fundamental Law or it violates it, the Constitutional Court of Hungary nullifies it.

The primary role of collector coins is to educate and raise awareness, therefore they are not to be used in everyday payments. Their face value serves to preserve the value the coins represent to collectors.

The silver and the non-ferrous metal versions have the same design with their denominations being the only difference. The collector coin was designed by the artist Balázs Bitó.

On the obverse of the Alkotmánybíróság (Constitutional Court of Hungary) collector coins, in the center, the representation of the chain worn by members of the Constitutional Court is shown with a medallion forming the stamp on the Aranybulla (the Golden Bull of 1222). The asymmetric placement of the chain in the design are complemented by the compulsory elements: On the edge of the coin, in the upper legend, to the left the ‘10,000’ and the ‘2000’ denomination and the lettering ‘FORINT’ are found. At the bottom, on the right, aligned to the edge, the wording ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’ (Hungary) with the mint mark ‘BP.’ and the mint year ‘2020’ are placed in two lines. The master mark of applied artist Balázs Bitó, the coin’s designer, is located to the left of the representation of the stamp. The surface of the obverse with an added, slight ripple effect makes reference to the robe judges wear.

The reverse features a part of an authentic copy of the Aranybulla (the Golden Bull of 1222) from 1318 in the right field. Originally issued by Andrew II of Hungary in 1222, the edict is an outstanding reminiscence in the history of Hungarian law, the symbol of Hungarian historic constitution.