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Denomination Quality Metal Issue limit Diameter Weight
2000 HUF BU CuNiZn 3,000 38.61 mm 30.8 g
Baron Loránd Eötvös was a Hungarian physicist who was born on 27 July 1848. He was a co-inventor and developer of the torsion balance, and also served as Hungary’s cabinet minister for religion and education. Born in the Svábhegy part of Buda; his father was Baron József Eötvös, who was cabinet minister for religion and education in Hungary’s first independent government. He started his education at the Piarist Grammar School in Pest where he graduated in 1865, after which he continued studying both law and natural sciences at the University of Budapest under the instruction of noted academics such as Károly Than (chemistry), Ottó Petzval (mathematics) and József Krenner (geology). In 1868, Eötvös decided to pursue physics and went to the University of Heidelberg, the leading institution for natural sciences at that time, where he was a awarded his doctorate summa cum laude in 1870. After returning to Hungary, he applied as a private instructor at the University of Budapest and was accepted as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at the age of 25. His great talent is illustrated by the fact that he later held leading positions in both of these institutions, being appointed head of the experimental physics department at the age of 30 and holding the position of President of the Academy of Sciences for 16 years (1889 to 1905).
This commemorative coin marks the 100th anniversary of his death. The central motif on the front of the coin is the ELTE Eötvös József Collegium building, an important intellectual nexus in the education of Hungarian teachers and scientists. The Collegium was created in 1895, at the initiative of Loránd Eötvös. This unique institution in Hungarian history bears the name of the founder’s father, József Eötvös, who launched important reforms in the Hungarian educational system. In 1875, Eötvös already submitted a proposal to Ágoston Trefort, cabinet minister for religion and education, for the creation of a high quality boarding school for teacher training, taking the world-famous École normale supérieure in Paris as an example. However, the plan only came to fruition two decades later, after Loránd Eötvös’ brief term as cabinet minister (1894–1895). The facade of the building from a slight angle (from south-west).
The reverse features a three-quarter profile portrait of Loránd Eötvös, based on a photograph dated from 1891-1892. Behind the portrait, the formula describing the four typical quantities of change in gravitational fields can be seen, along with Eötvös’ signature. These can be measured with the Eötvös torsion balance. The reeded edge of the coin bears the inscription ‘SZABADON SZOLGÁL A SZELLEM’ (The Spirit Serves Freely), which is still today the slogan of the Eötvös Collegium. The coin was designed by the sculptress Borbála Szanyi.
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