The Megyeri Bridge ( Hungarian : Megyeri Híd , Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈmɛɟɛri ˈhiːd] ), previously known as the Northern M0 Danube bridge , is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest , respectively the west and east sides of Budapest , the capital of Hungary . It is an important section of the M0 ringroad around Budapest.
31-579: The bridge cost 63 billion forints ( approx. US$ 300M) to build and was officially opened on September 30, 2008; however, the National Transport Authority of Hungary has only issued temporary permits because of disagreement among suburban cities surrounding the bridge. An online naming poll to determine the new name of the recently built bridge caused controversy and received media attention when American comedians Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart won. The total length of
62-828: A Roman pound of silver. Newly invented currencies and currencies adopting new symbols have symbolism meaningful to their adopter. For example, the euro sign € is based on ϵ , an archaic form of the Greek epsilon , to represent Europe; the Indian rupee sign ₹ is a blend of the Latin letter ' R ' with the Devanagari letter र ( ra ); and the Russian Ruble sign ₽ is based on Р (the Cyrillic capital letter 'er' ). There are other considerations, such as how
93-406: A bicolor 100 forint coin was minted to replace the 1992 version, since the latter was considered too big and ugly, and could easily be mistaken for the 20 forint coin. Silver 200 forint coins were withdrawn in 1998 (as their nominal value was too low compared to their precious metal content); the 1 and 2 forint coins remained legal tender until 29 February 2008. For cash purchases, the total price
124-679: A mixture of the high demand for reparations from the USSR , Soviet plundering of Hungarian industries, and the holding of Hungary's gold reserves in the United States . The different parties in the government had different plans to solve this problem. To the Independent Smallholders' Party –which had won a large majority in the 1945 Hungarian parliamentary election –as well as the Social Democrats , outside support
155-489: Is a graphic symbol used to denote a currency unit. Usually it is defined by a monetary authority, such as the national central bank for the currency concerned. A symbol may be positioned in various ways, according to national convention: before, between or after the numeric amounts: €2.50 , 2,50€ and 2 [REDACTED] 50 . Symbols are neither defined nor listed by international standard ISO 4217 , which only assigns three-letter codes. When writing currency amounts,
186-732: Is now rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 forint (to 0 or to 5). A new 200 forint coin made of base metal alloy was introduced in place of the 200 forint banknote on 15 June 2009. In 1946, 10 and 100 forint notes were introduced by the Hungarian National Bank . A new series of higher quality banknotes (in denominations of 10, 20 and 100 forints) were introduced in 1947 and 1948. 50 forint notes were added in 1953, 500 forint notes were introduced in 1970, followed by 1,000 forints in 1983, and 5,000 forints in 1991. A completely redesigned new series of banknotes in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 forints
217-543: Is placed in the decimal separator position, as in 2 [REDACTED] 50 . Older currency symbols have evolved slowly, often from previous currencies. The modern dollar and peso symbols originated from the mark employed to denote the Spanish dollar , whereas the pound and lira symbols evolved from the letter L (written until the seventeenth century in blackletter type as L {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {L}}} ) standing for libra ,
248-456: Is the currency of Hungary . It was formerly divided into 100 fillér , but fillér coins are no longer in circulation. The introduction of the forint on 1 August 1946 was a crucial step in the post- World War II stabilisation of the Hungarian economy , and the currency remained relatively stable until the 1980s. Transition to a market economy in the early 1990s adversely affected the value of
279-403: The 1956 revolution (in 2006). The 200-forint banknote was withdrawn from circulation in 2009, as its value inflated over time. Also due to the embarrassment caused by the fact that the model of the portrait on the banknote, purported to be of King Charles Robert (of whom no authentic contemporary depictions survived), turned out to be of an acquaintance of the designer, the managing director of
310-561: The 500 Ft banknote in 2019. In 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine , the EUR-HUF exchange rate breached the 400 forints per 1 euro line for the first time, but rates at that level or higher lasted until the end of 2022. Some time later, the forint also depreciated against the US dollar, breaching the same line. The forint is still more than 400 forints per 1 euro in November 2024. Against
341-466: The US dollar the forint strengthened more markedly, returning to levels below 400 in November 2022 and below 350 in April 2023. Forints per dollar, euro, etc. Most traded currencies (from 31 December 1990): Sources : arfolyam.iridium.hu Currencies of nearby countries (from 31 December 2010): Sources : arfolyam.iridium.hu Currency sign A currency symbol or currency sign
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#1732783372750372-687: The ambassador put it, 'fifty dollars, fifty good US dollars'. Colbert promptly tried to bribe him with said money. On September 28, 2006, it was announced that the bridge will be named " Megyeri Bridge ", even though that name did not make it to the second round. The Hungarian Geographical Name Committee justified the final name by explaining that the bridge connects Káposztás megyer and Békás megyer . 47°36′25.68″N 19°5′31.97″E / 47.6071333°N 19.0922139°E / 47.6071333; 19.0922139 Hungarian forint The forint ( Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈforint] , sign Ft ; code HUF )
403-475: The ballot box", as users of their forums created several automated scripts to cast multiple votes for Colbert. By August 22, 2006, the "Stephen Colbert híd" was in first with 17 million votes, about 14 million votes ahead of the second-placed Zrínyi híd , named after the Croatian-Hungarian national hero, Miklós Zrínyi , and about 7 million more than the entire population of Hungary. The same day,
434-401: The bridge is 1862m. Structurally it is composed of five parts: The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Transport of Hungary organized a public vote online to solicit possible names for the new bridge. The three names with the most votes, as well as suggestions from local governments, cartographers, linguists and other experts, were to be reviewed by a government committee before a final name for
465-428: The bridge was chosen. New nominations were accepted until August 21, 2006, and the voting ended on September 8, 2006. On August 1, 2006, Reuters reported that the top candidate according to the online poll was the "Chuck Norris híd", named for American action star Chuck Norris . ( Chuck Norris facts reached the height of their popularity around this time.) On August 9, 2006, American satirist Stephen Colbert discussed
496-661: The common size of 154 mm × 70 mm (6.1 in × 2.8 in). The banknotes are printed by the Hungarian Banknote Printing Corp. in Budapest on paper manufactured by the Diósgyőr Papermill in Miskolc . Commemorative banknotes have also been issued: 1,000 and 2,000 forint notes to commemorate the millennium (in 2000) and a 500-forint note to commemorate the 50th anniversary of
527-404: The current government there is no target date for adopting the euro. The forint's name comes from the city of Florence , where gold coins called fiorino d'oro were minted from 1252. In Hungary, the florentinus (later forint ), also a gold-based currency, was used from 1325 under Charles Robert , with several other countries following Hungary's example. Between 1868 and 1892, the forint
558-577: The forint; inflation peaked at 35% in 1991. Between 2001 and 2022, inflation was in single digits, and the forint has been declared fully convertible . In May 2022, inflation reached 10.7% amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and economic uncertainty. As a member of the European Union , the long-term aim of the Hungarian government may be to replace the forint with the euro , although under
589-700: The location of the symbol varies by language. For currencies in English-speaking countries and in most of Latin America, the symbol is placed before the amount, as in $ 20.50 . In most other countries, including many in Europe, the symbol is placed after the amount, as in 20,50€ . Exceptionally, the symbol for the Cape Verdean escudo (like the Portuguese escudo , to which it was formerly pegged )
620-471: The next year; later it was withdrawn from circulation. Five and 50 fillérs coins were issued in 1948. In 1967, a 5 forint coin was reintroduced, followed by a 10 forint in 1971 and 20 forint in 1982. In 1992, a new series of coins was introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and (a somewhat different, 500 ‰ silver) 200 forint. Production of the 2 and 5 fillér coins ceased in 1992, with all fillér coins withdrawn from circulation by 1999. From 1996,
651-481: The security company that supplied the banknote printing company. The banknote was replaced by a bimetallic 200-forint coin featuring the iconic Széchenyi Chain Bridge . Forgery of forint banknotes is not significant. However, forged 20,000 forint notes printed on the paper of 2,000 forint notes after dissolving the original ink might come up and are not easy to recognize. Another denomination preferred by counterfeiters
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#1732783372750682-537: The site announced a new round of voting, which would require registration to participate, and Colbert asked his viewers to "call off the dogs", requesting on his website that fans stop using scripts to vote. Despite this, the "Stephen Colbert híd" remained in the top position on the website in the second round. On September 14, 2006, András Simonyi —the ambassador of Hungary to the United States—announced on The Colbert Report that Stephen Colbert had won
713-476: The story on his comedy program The Colbert Report , instructing his viewers to visit the polling website and vote for him instead of Norris. On August 15, 2006, he repeated his call to be voted top of the Hungarian poll. The next day the number of votes for him had grown 230 times, and he now asked his viewers to follow a link from his own "Colbert Nation" website, to avoid "all that illegible Hungarian". Colbert's site also indirectly offered techniques for "stuffing
744-509: The symbol is rendered on computers and typesetting. For a new symbol to be used, its glyphs needs to be added to computer fonts and keyboard mappings already in widespread use, and keyboard layouts need to be altered or shortcuts added to type the new symbol. For example, the European Commission was criticized for not considering how the euro sign would need to be customized to work in different fonts. The original design
775-435: The vote. Unfortunately for Colbert, Ambassador Simonyi declared that under Hungarian law, Colbert would have to be fluent in Hungarian, and would have to be deceased in order to have the bridge named for him. However, after saying the rules could most likely be bent, he invited Colbert to visit Hungary and view the construction in person and gave him a Hungarian passport and a 10,000 HUF Bill , with an approximate value of, as
806-402: Was also exceptionally wide. These two factors have led to most type foundries designing customized versions that match the 'look and feel' of the font to which it is to be added, often with reduced width. & U+FFE6 ￦ FULLWIDTH WON SIGN Some of these symbols may not display correctly. The Unicode CJK Compatibility block contains several square versions of
837-406: Was defined on the basis of 1 kilogram of fine gold being 13,210 Ft (or 1 Ft = 75.7 mg fine gold). Therefore, given that gold was fixed at £8 8s (£8.40 in modern decimal notation) sterling per troy ounce, one pound sterling was at that time worth about 49 forint. In 1946, coins were introduced in denominations of 2, 10, 20 fillérs and 1, 2, 5 forints. The silver 5 forint coin was reissued only in
868-667: Was essential. However, the Soviet Union and its local supporters in the Hungarian Communist Party were opposed to raising loans in the West, and thus the Communist Party masterminded the procedure using exclusively domestic resources. The Communist plan called for tight limits on personal spending, as well as the concentration of existing stocks in state hands. When the forint was introduced, its value
899-454: Was introduced gradually between 1997 and 2001. Each banknote depicts a famous Hungarian leader or politician on the obverse and a place or event related to him on the reverse. All of the banknotes are watermarked , contain an embedded vertical security strip, an invisible ink design and are suitable for visually impaired people. The 1,000 forints and higher denominations are protected by an interwoven holographic security strip. The notes share
930-432: Was the 1,000 forint note until improved security features were added in 2006. Worn banknotes no longer fit for circulation are withdrawn, destroyed and turned into briquettes which are donated to public benefit (charitable) organizations to be used as heating fuel. In 2014, a new revised version of the 1997 banknote series was gradually put into circulation beginning with the 10,000 Ft banknote in 2014 and completed with
961-584: Was the name used in Hungarian for the currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , known in German as the Gulden . It was subdivided into 100 krajczár ( krajcár in modern Hungarian orthography; cf German Kreuzer ). The forint was reintroduced on 1 August 1946, after the pengő was rendered worthless by massive hyperinflation in 1945–46, the highest ever recorded. This was brought about by