After the Second World War, the huge inflation of the pengő, which was in circulation at the time and was recognized as the official Hungarian currency of Hungary, began. On August 1, 1946, the forint, which put an end to inflation, entered circulation.

Due to the inflation of the second half of the 20th century, pennies were continuously withdrawn from circulation, and in parallel, larger and larger denominations appeared. In 2008, withdrawals reached HUF 1 and HUF 2 coins as well. Hungary's accession to the European Union in 2004 constantly raised the question of changing the forint system to the Eurodollar-eurocent system. However, this currently seems to be an increasingly distant and uncertain possibility, both in terms of economic reality and political intent.