Description
On 18 May 1867, Jules Verne was the first to greet Count Ödön Széchenyi, who had embarked from Budapest on the steamship Hableány on 6 April to travel to the World Exhibition in Paris entirely by inland waterways. Verne used Széchenyi as a model for his character Borus Demeter in the novel ‘The Danube Pilot’. Széchenyi’s ship, the Hableány (Mermaid) had an iron hull and was custom built for this journey. It was 20 metres long, with a beam of 2.33 metres and a draught of 0.56 metre. The vessel was built in the ship-building shop of József Hartmann in Újpest, based on the plans of Adolf Höcher. It was commissioned in November 1866, with a 6-horsepower motor which working with 4 atm pressure.
Front: The front of this silver coin has the mandatory elements, the denomination 1000 Forint, the mint mark BP., the date 1995, the legend Magyar Köztársaság, the designer’s mark and the coat-of-arms of Hungary. The letter ‘T’ in the legend forms an anchor.
Back:The back bears the legends ‘RÉGI DUNAI HAJÓK’ and ‘1867’ with an image of the steamship Hableány.
Keywords:ship, transport, shipping, steamship, silver, 1995
