Hungary: Delayed UEFA Championships celebrated with silver Proof collector coins

The Magyar Nemzeti — Hungarian National Bank has released commemorative coins marking the delayed UEFA Football Championships in which Hungary will also be participating as the host country. The effects of the pandemic have resulted in the delay of up to one year of the tournament. As well as participating in the games, the city of Budapest will host several of the tournaments for the first time.

UEFA

The delayed games of UEFA (Union of European Football Association), the European Football Championship, UEFA EURO 2020 will be an exceptional event in many ways. These will be the 16th games staged since the tournament began in 1960 and on this occasion, for the first time in its history, 11 European cities — including Budapest — will host the matches, thus placing the emphasis on European cooperation.

In the case of the 11 host venues, seven cities in six countries have never hosted a European Championship match before. As Budapest is one of those countries and cities, they will make their debut as a host city on the 15th June. The Hungarian venue of the UEFA European Football Championship is the Puskás Arena, where the teams will play three group matches and an eighth final. The Hungarian national team, which reached the European Championship for the second time in a series, will thus play two group matches in a domestic field and in front of a home audience.

Both the silver and base metal versions carry the amended year of 2021 and share the same images and designs with a denomination specified as 10,000 forint (silver) and 2,000 forint (cupro-nickel). Designed by the applied artist Áron Bohus, the coins are produced by the Hungarian Mint at their facilities in Budapest, on behalf of the Hungarian National Bank.

Obverse: Depicting a realistic representation of the Puskás Arena, it is this venue that will host the matches of the European Championships in Budapest. The Puskás Arena is a state-of-the-art multifunctional experience arena in Central Europe, the home of the national football team, and was built on the site of the former Népstadion. The stadium was inaugurated on the 15th November 2019. In the background is a pattern of a soccer ball with the commemorative text XVI. LABDARÚGÓ EURÓPA-BAJNOKSÁG (“XVI. Football European Championship”) placed just above the stadium and under the official logo of UEFA 2020.

Reverse: In the two lines above the primary design is shown the letters BP, which is the mintmark of the Hungarian Mint, and the year of release 2021, with the country shown below as MAGYARORSZÁG (“Hungary”). Featured is the official emblem of Budapest as a host country for UEFA, which includes stylised representations of the UEFA trophy and the famed Széchenyi Chain Bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest. Below the emblem is the denomination of 10000 or 2000 FORINT. The design is encircled with text towards the edge with the names of the other 11 cities which were designated host cities and include AMSZTERDAM BAKU BILBAO BUKAREST DUBLIN GLASGOW KOPPENHÁGA LONDON MÜNCHEN RÓMA SZENTPÉTERVÁR (“Amsterdam Baku Bilbao Bucharest Dublin Glasgow Copenhagen London Munich Rome St. Petersburg”).

Denomination	Metal	Weight	Diameter	Quality	Mintage limit
2000 Forint	Cupro-nickel	30.8 Grams	38.6 mm.	BU	5000
10,000 Forint	.925 Silver	31.4 Grams	38.6 mm.	Proof	5000

For additional information about both of these commemorative coins featuring international sports themes, please visit the website of the Hungarian National Bank.

For information about purchasing options, please visit the website of the Hungarian Mint.

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