Description
On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, nailed his 95 theses for disputation to the door of a church in Wittenberg, with the goal of renewing the Catholic Church. In his theses, he supported the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, and condemned the practice of selling indulgences. This triggered the Reformation, which spread extremely quickly with widespread support in society. In the mid-16th century, the Reformation also began to spread in Hungary.
As a result of the Reformation, new centres of culture developed. Thanks to Gáspár Károli’s translation work, the first, full Hungarian version of the Bible was printed in Vizsoly.
Front: The obverse of the collector coins bears a representation of the façade of a medieval church, with an open church gate in its focus, alluding to the fact that the Reformation made freedom of religion easier, given that national languages replaced Latin in preaching God’s word. The representation of a pigeon in the window and the five rays radiating from a single point are intended to visualise the descent of the Holy Spirit. The coin’s obverse features the standard design elements: the inscription ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’, the country issuing the coin; value numerals ‘2000 FORINT’ in a lower legend; the mint mark ‘BP’ on the upper left side made in special micro lettering containing a safety feature; and the mint year ‘2017’ on the right.
Back: The Reformation placed the emphasis on the Holy Scripture as a single clean source. Therefore, the reverse of the coin bears a representation of the Bible in the centre. The pigeon of the Holy Spirit appears above the open book with its wings spread, symbolising that the Bible can only be interpreted with the help of the Holy Spirit. The thematic unity of the two motives is also suggested by their special polishing. The inscription ‘REFORMÁCIÓ 500 ÉVE’ appears on the lower part of the ribbon extending from it as a bookmark, which sheds light on the reason for issuing the coin, and suggests that the process has not yet reached its end: there is still a need of reformation and renewal. The designer’s master mark is shown on the other side of the ribbon.
