Financial philately in Hungary

Column 1
Before the stamp was introduced, an ornamental drawing with the duty value printed on it, known as a signet, was used to pay the amount of duty. Signets were applied to the document in two different ways: either they were pre-printed on blank sheets folded in two at the printing house and then filled in at the place of use, or the signet was applied to the final document. The lower part of post-printed signets is marked with the letter indicating the stamping office where the stamp was applied. For example, the Croatian document included in the compilation bears the letter “C” in the lower half of the signature, in the direction in which it should be read, referring to the name Croatien – Croatia. The Győr announcement bears the letter “U” in the same position as indicated above, which refers to Ungarn – Hungary. It’s interesting to note that various offices were numbered in Hungary. A document issued in Győr bears the Roman numeral IV, which indicates the Bratislava office.

Column 2
The first Hungarian duty stamp was issued in 1868, in the year following the Compromise. The Hungarian State Printing House was not ready to print stamps at that time; therefore, stamps were printed in Vienna until the 1870s. However, their designer was a graphic artist of Hungarian origin, Josef Bayer, who worked there. Duty stamp design was based on the Austrian ornamentation issued before, with a leaf vein motif surrounding the centre. The centre is usually circular, except for the two smallest denominations, which have a square centre. This is clearly visible on the half kreutzer stamp on display. The first issue had a green underprint with a black centre. Later versions included centres printed in brown/pink and other colours.

Column 3
As of 1898, kreutzer/forint issues were replaced by korona/filler ones. As a new addition to the previous issues, the year of issuance has been included on each stamp. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the size of the stamps also differed according to denomination. Korona stamps were issued in larger size compared to filler ones. The 1898 series was published in six different denominations, the main subject of the illustrations was still the Hungarian coat of arms; however, the Holy Crown was also depicted, surrounded by allegorical elements.
New motifs and colours appeared on stamps in 1914. There is a 2 fillér denomination on display here, depicting the Holy Crown in a wreath of wheat surrounded by a stylised star. The design is detailed and elaborate with dense lines, which makes it difficult to counterfeit.
The 1 korona 20 fillér denomination depicts Saint Stephen. The founder of the state is depicted in his coronation robe, his name is printed on ribbons that running alongside his head. There are church designs on two sides, with two towers symmetrically on each side. The nave of the church on the left is covered by an image of the Holy Crown.
Another interesting feature of the korona/fillér issue is the stamp depicting King Matthias designed by Ferenc Helbing and issued in 1922. Matthias is depicted in the centre of an oval frame in a square centre on this stamp. The upper left corner depicts the Hungarian, while the right one the Hunyadi coat of arms.

Column 4
Pengő-fillér denominations were issued between 1926 and 1946, and their story reveals a lot about the political and economic changes that took place during that period.
Examples include the 1945 issue on display, which bears the black overprint “OKIRATI ILLETÉK” (DOCUMENTARY DUTY). This was necessary, because many duty stamps fell into unauthorised hands during the war, leading to misuse.
An overprint from the same year is displayed, showing that due to inflation, the original 3 pengő stamp had to be overprinted to depict 5 pengő.
Subsequently, the system became unsustainable as inflation soared, and tax pengő was introduced in 1946. Its value was published on a daily basis reflecting the rate of inflation.

Column 5
Forint-fillér issues date back to 1946 and continue to the present day, except that the fillér denomination has been discontinued in the meantime.
The former inscription “OKIRATI ILLETÉK” (DOCUMENTARY DUTY) has been abbreviated to “ILLETÉK” (DUTY) on these issues. The stamp with the so-called Kossuth coat of arms appears. This stamp also appears on the document that confirms the payment of rent for an apartment. Stamps on the document reveal that the monthly rent for the apartment was 2 forints 40 fillérs. The same Kossuth coat of arms appears on another document, but here 6 and 3 forint denominations were used.
The Kossuth coat of arms was later replaced by the so-called Rákosi coat of arms. Elements emphasising the sovereignty of the country were removed and replaced by symbols of communism. However, a new print depicting the Parliament in the colours of the national tricolour was published in 1952. These two stamps appear on a notarial document certifying the closure of an estate procedure.

Column 6
The counterfeiting of stamp duty dates back to the issuance of stamps. The very first stamp duty issued in Hungary had been counterfeited. Counterfeit denominations of the green underprinted kreutzer issue were found, which can be proven to be from 1867. Counterfeits were printed on thicker paper, were a yellower colour and did not carry the security watermark. The identity of the counterfeiters is still unknown. Security solutions in stamp issuance were constantly being improved, both through technical innovations and more complex designs that were more difficult to reproduce. Needless to say, as stamp issues improved, counterfeiters became increasingly ingenious. Major counterfeiting and relevant investigations were constantly reported in newspapers of the time. You can see examples of these in our collection.
Complex printing techniques have been used since the early 2000s to prevent counterfeiting. The design of the stamp image has become intricate, embellished with a mesh-like pattern of thin lines that are difficult to reconstruct. Moreover, a security underprint glowing under UV light was added to the stamps, and they were printed on SIHL paper without watermarks, but with fluorescent fibres, which further complicated the work of counterfeiters.