Moldovan leu

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The leu (ISO 4217 code MDL) is the national currency of Moldova. One leu (pl. lei) is subdivided into 100 bani (singular: ban).

Between 1918 and 1940 and again between 1941 and 1944, when Moldova was a province of Romania, the Romanian leu circulated in this area.

The Moldovan leu was established on 29 November 1993, following the creation of the independent state of Moldova. It replaced the cupon currency at a rate of 1 leu = 1000 cupon.

In Transnistria, an unrecognised break-away republic from Moldova, Transnistrian ruble is used instead.

Contents 1 Coins 2 Banknotes 3 Unofficial currencies 4 External links

[edit] Coins

Coins consist of 1, 5, 10, and 25 bani in aluminium and 50 bani in aluminium-bronze. 50 bani, 1 and 5 leu coins were issued in stainless steel in 1993 but have been withdrawn from circulation.

[edit] Banknotes

There have been two series of Moldovan leu banknotes. The first series was short-lived and only included 1, 5, and 10 lei.

Second Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description			Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark	first printing	issue
[1]	[2]	1 leu	114 × 58 mm	Yellow	Stephen III	Mănăstirea Căpriana	As portrait	1994	May 1994
[3]	[4]	5 lei		Blue		Biserica sf. Dumitru din Orhei			April 1994
[5]	[6]	10 lei	121 × 61 mm	Red		Mănăstirea Hîrjauca			May 1994
[7]	[8]	20 lei		Lime		Cetatea Soroca		1992	November 1993
[9]	[10]	50 lei		Pink		Mănăstirea Hîrbovăţ			May 1994
[11]	[12]	100 lei		Orange		Cetatea Tighina			September 1995
[13]	[14]	200 lei	133 × 66 mm	Pink and yellow		Chişinău Mayoralty
[15]	[16]	500 lei		Orange and green		Chişinău Cathedral			December 1999
[17]	[18]	1000 lei		Purple		Former building of the parliament			October 2003
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Unofficial currencies

A second, unofficial currency in Moldova is the United States dollar. After the creation of the European Union, the third, unofficial currency became the Euro. These currency rates are strongly influenced by the political and economical instability of Moldova.

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[edit] External links

• Coins
• Banknotes

Preceded by: Moldovan cupon Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 leu = 1000 cupon

Currency of Moldova 1993 –

Succeeded by: Current

Currencies of Europe
Eurozone	Euro
Northern	Danish krone | Faroese króna | Icelandic króna | Norwegian krone | Swedish krona
Baltic	Estonian kroon | Latvian lats | Lithuanian litas
Western	British pound | Guernsey pound | Jersey pound | Manx pound
Central	Czech koruna | Hungarian forint | Polish złoty | Slovak koruna | Slovenian tolar | Swiss franc
Eastern	Belarusian ruble | Kazakhstani tenge | Russian ruble | Ukrainian hryvnia
Southeastern	Albanian lek | Bulgarian lev | Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark | Croatian kuna | Macedonian denar | Moldovan leu | Romanian leu | Serbian dinar
Mediterranean	Cypriot pound | Gibraltar pound | Maltese lira | Turkish new lira
Transcaucasia	Armenian dram | Azerbaijani manat | Georgian lari
Unrecognized Countries	Transnistrian ruble
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