Description
János Arany (1817-1882) was a Hungarian journalist, writer, poet, and translator. He is often said to be the “Shakespeare of ballads” – he wrote more than 102 ballads been translated into over 50 languages, as well as the Toldi trilogy, to mention his most famous works. He translated three dramas of Shakespeare into Hungarian, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet and King John, and they are considered to be some of the greatest translations into Hungarian in history; he also helped other Hungarian translators with his comments, and translated works by Aristophanes, Mikhail Lermontov, Aleksandr Pushkin, and Molière.
Front: On their obverse, a statue of Miklós Toldi is shown on the base of the János Arany monument by sculptor Alajos Stróbl, with a quote from Toldi ‘RÉMLIK, MINTHA LÁTNÁM TERMETES NÖVÉSÉT’ (I SEE, IT SEEMS, HIS TOWERING FORM) in addition to the standard design elements (the inscription ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’, the value numerals ‘2000 FORINT’, the mint mark ‘BP’, made in special micro lettering containing safety features, and the mint year ‘2017’.
Back: The reverse of the collector coin features a half-figure representation of János Arany in older age. Next to the representation is the poet’s signature, as well as the dates of his birth and death in the middle, in two lines placed below each other. The quote from the ballad ‘The Bards of Wales’ by János Arany on the reverse: ‘KOBZÁN A DAL MAGÁRA VALL’ (WITHOUT SALUTE HE STRIKES THE LUTE) is a reference to his ars poetica.
