The Magyar Nemzeti Bank is issuing silver and non-ferrous metal collector coins to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of András Fáy, author, politician and one of the most prolific members of the literary and social movements of the Hungarian reform era. Founded by Fáy, the First National Savings Association of Pest started business in 1840, and by 1848 it opened 32 branch offices in the countryside. Kálmán Mikszáth said: ‘had Széchenyi not lived, he would be titled the “Greatest of Hungarians”, and had Deák not lived, he would be called the “Wise Man of the Homeland” – after all, he is remembered as “The Servant of the Nation”.’

András Fáy (1786–1864) was born to a Calvinist family in Zemplén County. He studied in the towns of Sárospatak and Pozsony (today in Bratislava, Slovakia) and was later admitted to the bar, although he never practiced law. Fay gained a reputation for his literary and poetic talents with his volume of poems New Garland (1818). However, he gained greater fame with his Mesék (Fables), the first edition of which appeared in Vienna in 1820. This book exhibited his talents of satire and invention. These fables, on account of their originality and simplicity, gave Fay the recognition as the Hungarian Aesop. They were translated into German and partly into English known as Hungarian Poems and Fables.

From the 1820s until the mid-1840s, he was the head of the opposition in Pest, and from 1835 he was the diet’s representative from Pest County. Fay’s name is probably most closely linked to the foundation of the First Hungarian Savings Bank of Pest, and he also laid the groundwork for the foundation of the first Hungarian insurance company. At the age of 63, he retired from public life to his estate in Gomba in 1849. Statesman Ferenc Deák was counting on his assistance in crafting the Compromise of 1867, which would establish the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary and re-establish partially the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, but his health no longer allowed it. Fay did not live to see the emergence of Hungary’s partial independence and died at his estate in 1864. He is buried alongside his son in a crypt at the Reformed Church at Kálvin tér, now a historical landmark.

“I have worked for the good! That was my life’s goal and motto,” Fáy once said when asked to describe his own work. “Inscribe on my tomb, ‘He always wished well and worked for the common good.’”

The obverse of the collector coin bears the emblem of the First National Savings Association of Pest founded by András Fáy. It depicts a bee collecting pollen, enclosed in a circle. The emblem resembles the decorative motif on the facade of the building at 12 Károlyi utca. The upper legend on the edge of the coin reads ‘MAGYARORSZÁG’. The value numeral ‘5000’ and the inscription ‘FORINT’ are placed below the representation of the emblem. The initials of designer Márta Csikai are on the edge of the coin. The mint year ‘2014’ and the mint mark ‘BP’ are positioned on the left, below the horizontal axis.

The reverse of the coin features a half-figure portrait of András Fáy, placed in the centre. Fáy’s signature is inscribed on the edge of the collector coin, above the horizontal axis and to the left of the portrait. The inscription to the right of the portrait, arranged in two horizontal lines above Fáy’s shoulder, reads ‘1786-1864’. The initials of designer Vilmos Király are positioned to the left of the portrait, on the right edge of the coin.

Сountry:	Kazakhstan
Data of issue:	July 26, 2014
Face value:	2000 Forint	5000 Forint
Metal:	Cupro-nickel	Silver .925
Weight:	12,5 g	12,5 g
Diameter:	30 mm	30 mm
Quality:	BU	Proof
Mintage:	5,000 pcs	5,000 pcs