The Central Bank of Hungary has issued a new commemorative silver coin to honor the 100th anniversary of physicist Loránd Eötvös’s death. This coin aims to remember the Hungarian physicist's scientific achievements.

Loránd Eötvös is an outstanding Hungarian physicist and scientist who created the torsion pendulum, now known worldwide, to measure gravity changes in space, and by applying a theoretical approach, he also recognized the relationship between the surface tension of liquids measured at different temperatures and their molecular mass, which became known as the Eötvös’ law.

During his scientific career, he was the rector of the University of Budapest bearing his name today, worked as Minister of Religion and Education, and also filled the position of the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for 16 years. In his role as Minister of Religion and Education, he implemented a public education reform resulting in the construction of 400 new schools. In honor of his father, he founded the Eötvös Collegium in 1895 in order that talented students with poor financial background could also receive a university education.

The reverse side of the coin features a portrait of Loránd Eötvös in a decorative style. The portrait was inspired by a photograph from 1891-92. In the background of the portrait, a series of formulas describing the four characteristic quantities of gravitational pull changes in space are shown in Eötvös’ handwriting. The lettering EÖTVÖS LORÁND 1848-1919 (his date of birth and death) is placed in a legend to the left on an elevated plane. The master mark of sculptor Borbála Szanyi, the designer of the coin, is shown on the uninterrupted elevated plane under the portrait.


The obverse features the building Eötvös József Collegium, referring to the pedagogical aspect of Eötvös’ career. It shows an inscription of “EÖTVÖS COLLEGIUM” running from top to the center right of the coin. "MAGYARORSZÁG" along with the denomination of the coin is engraved at the bottom of the coin. The mint mark “BP” and the issue year, 2019, also appear on the coin.

The new coin is struck in .925 fine silver and weighs 31.46 grams. It has a limited mintage of 5000 pieces. The same coin is also produced in a non-ferrous metal. This version is produced from an alloy of copper (75%) and nickel (25%). It has a limited mintage of 5000 pieces. The silver and the non-ferrous metal versions have the same design, with the only difference being their denominations.

Source: National Bank of Hungary