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Hungary

Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, fossils, Natural History Museums, anthropologists on stamps and postmarks of Hungary

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Contents

• Country overview
• Philately of Hungary
• Official stamps of Hungary related to Paleontology
• Other stamps of Hungary to consider
• Commemorative postmarks of Hungary related to Paleontology
• References

Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország), is a parliamentary constitutional republic in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, Slovenia to the west, Austria to the northwest, and Ukraine to the northeast. The country's capital and largest city is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and the Schengen Area. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Hungary's current borders were first established by the Treaty of Trianon (1920) after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, and 32% of ethnic Hungarians. Following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary came under the influence of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship (1947–1989). On 23 October 1989, Hungary again became a democratic parliamentary republic. ^[R1]

The postal history of Hungary is strongly linked to the history of Hungary. Mail delivery on a countrywide basis was first organized by the Habsburgs under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Until 1871, Hungary used the same stamps as other territories of the Empire. After continued development, the postal systems of Austria and Hungary were formally separated following the Compromise of 1867, with both becoming fully independent after 1908. Both world wars caused heavy damage to the infrastructure. The Hungarian Post was nationalized after 1947. Until 1990, the Post Office controlled not only mail and package delivery, but also the full range of telecommunications, including radio, telephone and television transmissions. When the Post Office was split into separate companies, Magyar Posta JSC was established to handle postal administration. ^[R2]

Notes:

* There are no international country name on stamps of Hungary. MAGYAR POSTA used on stamps before 1992 and MAGYARORSZAG (hungarian name of the country) later on.
** Hungarian stamps from 1957 to 1992 are available in two variations: perforated and imperforated

Official stamps directly related to Paleontology and Paleoanthropology: fossils, dinosaurs, prehistoric plants, skulls of Neanderthal

21.09.1969 "100 anniversary of Hungarian State Institute of Geology"	29.12.1989 "Medical Pioneers" [1]	16.11.1990 "Prehistoric animals"
27.10.1993"Prehistoric Man"	09.05.2002 "200 anniversary of Hungarian Museum of Natural History: domestic animals" [2]	08.06.2016 "Geological Treasures"
03.09.2018 "THE WORLD OF THE BAKONY DINOSAURS (I)"  [3]	04.03.2020 "THE WORLD OF THE BAKONY DINOSAURS (II)" [3]

Notes:

[1] The stamp with face value of 6ft shows German pathologist and anthropologist Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) and some bones of Homo sapiens neanderthaltnsis.

[2] Fossils of Tyrannosaurus, Ammonite and flint tool from collection of the museum are depicting on the margin of the block

[3] Not all animals on these stamps are dinosaurs., but unfortunately many Post Authorities of the world made the same mistake. The better name of these stamps should be "The world of the Bakony prehistoric animals".

Other stamps to consider: Natural History Museums

20.08.1954 "5 years of Constitution" [A1]

Notes:

[A1] The blue stamp shows Hungarian National Museum .
The Animal Bones Archaeological Collection at the Hungarian National Museum was created by Sándor Bökonyi in 1953, as the fifth distinct collection in the Department of Archaeology. The basis for the collection was provided by animal bone remains transferred from the Prehistoric Collection and pieces recovered during archaeological excavations at that time. The collection contains 78,513 examples of animal bone from a total of 388 find-sites. The Hungarian National Museum’s Animal Bones Archaeological Collection contains remains from every large mammal species inhabiting the Carpathian Basin in the last 12,000 years, include original fossils of prehistoric humans depicting on stamps in 1993. Moreover, part of the collection consists of documented bone remains from domestic animals kept by the peoples living in the region, the Hungarians included.

Postal Stationeries related to Paleontology: prehistoric animals

29.10.1996 "Nature Science Museum" [PS1]

Notes:

[PS1] Some fossils from collection of the museum, include dinosaur, depicting on post stamps from 2002.

Commemorative postmarks of Hungary related to Paleontology and Paleoanthropology: fossils, dinosaurs, prehistoric plants, skulls of Neanderthal

21.09.1969 "100 anniversary of Hungarian State Institute of Geology" [FDC]	29.08.1982  "  [Sp]	29.08.1983  " [Sp]
16.11.1990 "Prehistoric animals" [FDC]	27.10.1993 "Prehistoric Man" [FDC]	08.06.2016 "Geological Treasures" [FDC]
03.09.2018 "THE WORLD OF THE BAKONY DINOSAURS (I)" [FDC]	04.03.2020 "THE WORLD OF THE BAKONY DINOSAURS (II)" [FDC]

Legend:
[DU] - exact Date of first introduction and/or last usage is unknown. Clarifications and comments are welcome.
[FDC] - Post Marks used on FDC of official stamp
[PM] - Permanent postmark: available for a long period of time , some small design changes possible.
[Sp] - Special postmark: issued for special event and was available for short period of time
[N] - new design of early introduced postmarks

References:

 [R1] More information about Hungary are on Wikipedia WikiTravel Flag Counter
 [R2] More information about postal history of Hungary are on Wikipedia
Links to Hungary's post authority and stamps catalog websites are here

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