Description
During the reign of King Matthias I (1458–1490), the sovereign’s coat of arms on the obverse of Hungary’s medieval gold forints was replaced with an image of the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus, to express that the monarch’s power derived from the protection of the Virgin Mary. The first known mention of these gold forints with the Virgin Mary occurs in 1471. This motif and the legend PATRONA HVNGARIE (patroness of Hungary) were found on Hungarian coins forcenturies. This gold forint replica coin is an accurate copy of a historical coin from the age of King Matthias I, with the reverse rotated almost 90o from the obverse.
