Obverse. Photo © Tóth Numizmatika
  • 500 Forint 2002, KM# 764, Hungary, Hungarian Explorers and Their Inventions, Mechanical Turk by Wolfgang von Kempelen
  • 500 Forint 2002, KM# 764, Hungary, Hungarian Explorers and Their Inventions, Mechanical Turk by Wolfgang von Kempelen
Description

Johann Wolfgang Ritter von Kempelen de Pázmánd (Hungarian: Kempelen Farkas; 1734–1804) was a Hungarian inventor and writer renowned for his chess-playing "automaton" deception, famously known as The Turk, as well as his speaking machine.

Engraver: Áron Bohus

Obverse

Depicts the Mechanical Turk figure with a chessboard, dividing the invention year and surrounded by the inscription "Farkas Kempelen's chess machine".

The Mechanical Turk, also known as the Automaton Chess Player, or simply The Turk, was a fraudulent chess-playing machine constructed in 1770, which appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess against a human opponent. For 84 years, it was exhibited on tours by various owners as an automaton. The machine survived and continued giving occasional exhibitions until 1854, when a fire swept through the museum where it was kept, destroying the machine. Afterwards, articles were published by a son of the machine's owner revealing its secrets to the public: that it was an elaborate hoax, suspected by some, but never proven in public while it still existed.

Constructed and unveiled in 1770 by Wolfgang von Kempelen to impress Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the mechanism appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess against a human opponent, as well as perform the knight's tour, a puzzle that requires the player to move a knight to occupy every square of a chessboard exactly once.

The Turk was in fact a mechanical illusion that allowed a human chess master hiding inside to operate the machine. With a skilled operator, the Turk won most of the games played during its demonstrations around Europe and the Americas for nearly 84 years, playing and defeating many challengers including statesmen such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. The device was later purchased in 1804 and exhibited by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel. The chessmasters who secretly operated it included Johann Allgaier, Boncourt, Aaron Alexandre, William Lewis, Jacques Mouret, and William Schlumberger, but the operators within the mechanism during Kempelen's original tour remain unknown.

KEMPELEN FARKAS SAKKAUTOMATÁJA
17 69

Reverse

Depicts in horizontal rows beneath each other, the country name, the denomination, the year of issue, alongside the mint mark, and at the bottom, the engraver's privy mark. Along the edge defined by the line, both at the bottom and top, referencing a chessboard, the letters "ABCDEFGH," while on the left and right sides, the numbers "12345678" are visible.

A B C D E F G H
MAGYAR
KÖZTÁRSASÁG
500 FORINT
2002•BP.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Edge

500 Forint

Third Republic

Hungarian Explorers and Their Inventions
Mechanical Turk by Wolfgang von Kempelen

Subscribe series
KM# 764 Adamo# EM181
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Copper Nickel
Weight 14 g
Diameter -
Width 28 mm
Height 28 mm
Thickness 2.1 mm
Shape square
Alignment Medal
Mint
Budapest Mint (BP)

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