Description
Békés county is located in south-east Hungary, in the southern part of the Great Plain. This border county was created during the reign of King Saint Stephen when the royal counties were organised, but the area has been inhabited since the 7th millennium BC. Thanks to its extensive network of waterways (the Körös, Berettyó and Száraz rivers flow through it), the county boasts a rich diversity of flora and fauna. In addition to its natural resources, it is also renowned for its culinary specialties, such as Csabai and Gyulai sausage and the county’s famous fruit brandy, or pálinka. Its most important cities include Békéscsaba, which was declared the administrative centre in 1950, the historically rich town of Gyula, which played a key role in the struggle against the Turkish invasions and Orosháza with the great agricultural history. The county seat, Békéscsaba, is at the geographic and economic centre of the county, where the internationally renowned painter Mihály Munkácsy spent his childhood.
Front: The front bears a portrait of Munkácsy in a painter’s palette to the upper right, with the county’s motto to the left of this in three horizontal lines: ‘Békéscsaba Munkácsy városa’ (Békéscsaba, the city of Munkácsy). To the lower left are views of the Small Lutheran Church and the Great Lutheran Church of Békéscsaba, since it is quite unusual for a city to have two churches on its main square. The mandatory elements, i.e. the denomination ‘3000 Ft’ the issuer ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’, the mint date ‘2025’ and the mint mark ‘BP.’, are found to the right of the churches in four lines.
Back: The back features a collage of cultural and natural features from Békés, with the legend ‘Békés vármegye’ (Békés county) providing context. The upper left shows the castle of Gyula, the only well-preserved brick castle left in the Great Plain. Below this is a view of the facade of the Wenckheim palace in Szabad- kígyós, which was designed by architect Miklós Ybl. The county’s natural treasures are represented by the Adonis volgensis flower, which is only found within Hungary in Békés county and the depiction of the rivers (Sebes, Fekete-Körös, Fehér-Körös and Berettyó) in a tactile map of the county. The location of Békéscsaba is marked with a dot on this map. The significance of the trade system that developed along the rivers is underlined by the fact that this system ensured the county’s food supply for many, many years. The coin was designed by Áron Bohus. His master mark can be found on the back, to the lower right.
