Romanian leu

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The leu (/leŭ/, plural: lei /lej/; ISO 4217 code RON; numeric code 946) is the national currency of Romania. One leu is subdivided into 100 bani (singular: ban). Starting on 1 July 2005, Romania has undergone a currency reform, redenominating its currency and hence switching from the old leu (ROL) to the new leu (RON), both of which are called lei, abbreviated to L, in common usage. 1 RON is equal to 10,000 ROL.

The ISO 4217 codes presumably stand for "ROmanian Leu", and "ROmanian New Leu".

Romania will join the European Union on the 1st of January 2007 and it is expected to adopt the Euro in 2012-2014^[1].

While Moldova was a province of Romania (1918-1940), the Romanian leu circulated in that area. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the creation of the independent Republic of Moldova in 1993, the Moldovan leu, named after its Romanian predecessor, was established.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 BC and Early Middle Ages 2.2 Middle Ages 2.3 Modern times 2.3.1 National awakening 2.3.2 Principality and Kingdom 2.4 After World War II 2.5 After 1990 3 Revaluation 4 Coins 4.1 ROL coins 4.2 RON coins 4.2.1 Note 5 Banknotes 5.1 ROL banknotes 5.1.1 1952 5.1.2 1966 5.1.3 1991-1992 5.1.4 1992-1994 5.1.5 1996-2000 5.1.6 1999-2003 5.2 RON banknotes 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Etymology

During the 17th century, Dutch thalers bearing a lion (leeuwendaalder) circulated in the Romanian principalities; they were often called lei (lions). The name was kept as a generic term for money, and became the official name of the national currency in 1880 after several attempts to impose a more nationalist name, such as Român (cf. Franc) or Românat (cf. Ducat). The Bulgarian lev has the same etymology.

The subdivision of Leu, the "ban" is related to Romanian word ban, pl. bani, meaning "money". The origin of these words are disputed. The relation to Ban, the title held by some medieval rulers who supposedly minted their own coins, is unsubstantiated.

[edit] History

[edit] BC and Early Middle Ages

Further information: Romania in the Early Middle Ages

The earliest documented currency in the Romanian territory was an 8-gram silver drachma, issued by the Greek polis (πολις, city) Histria (in the region that is now the Dobrogea) in the year 480 BC. It was followed by other coins issued by other Greek poleis in Dobrogea. Gaeto-Dacias used Macedonian gold coins, the celebrated gold kosoni (named so after the Dacian King depicted on most of the coins, Koson). Similarly, Roman coins such as Republican and Imperial dinarii also circulated in the Dacian territory, even before the Roman occupation, much as they continued to circulate even after the Aurelian retreat, later replaced by Byzantine money.

[edit] Middle Ages

Further information: Romania in the Middle Ages

Several of the subsequent Romanian (Vlach) states issued coins, the first such issue being by Vladislav I of Wallachia, followed by Petru Muşat in Moldova, who issued groşi de argint, silver groschen.

Many different coins circulated in the Romanian lands over the course of centuries: Turkish thalers, Hungarian and Austrian guilders (known in Romania as galbeni), zloti, Russian carboave, Venerian zecchini, over 100 currencies in all. Issuing coins could cost a prince his head. It is said of Constantin Brâncoveanu, that his issue of coins depicting his own countenance offended against the Muslim religion and provided the Ottoman Turks the motive for his beheading.

[edit] Modern times

[edit] National awakening

Further information: National awakening of Romania

Through the Organic Regulations adopted in 1831 in Wallachia and in 1832 in Moldova stabilized the coinage used in the Romanian Lands: the Austrian guilder and a silver coin known to numismatists as the Zwainziger from Zwanziger, "twentieth", the South Tyrolian kreuzer, worth 20 Veronese dinarii (in German Berner, in Latin denarii cruciati, cruciati meaning "crossed", from the cross on the coin).

As a recognition of unification, prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza wanted to mint a coin, to be called români or romanat following Ion Heliade Rădulescu. This proved impossible, given the amount of metal in the possession of his state and the power of the Ottomans, who did not accept that their vassal state should have its own currency.

[edit] Principality and Kingdom

Further information: Kingdom of Romania and Greater Romania

The Kingdom of Romania gained its independence, and invited Carol I to be its king. On April 22, 1867 a bimetallic currency was adopted, the leu, divided into 100 bani. The leu consisted of 5 grams of silver or 0.3226 grams of gold. The first coins were gold coins of 20 lei, silver coins of 50 bani, 1 and and 2 lei, and copper coins of 1, 2, 5 and 10 bani. Beginning in 1868 came 20 lei gold coins called poli, probably after the French Napoleon, a 20-franc gold coin.

After 1878 the silver Russian ruble was valued so highly as to drive the native coins out of circulation. Consequently, in 1889, Romania joined the Latin Monetary Union and adopted a gold standard. Bronze coins of 1, 2, 5 and 10 bani, silver coins of ½, 1, 2 and 5 lei and gold coins of 20 lei were used. Silver was legal tender only up to 50 lei. All taxes and customs dues were to be paid in gold and, owing to the small quantities issued from the Romanian mint, foreign gold coins were current, especially French 20-franc pieces (equal at par to 20 lei), Turkish gold lire (22.70), old Russian imperials (20.60) and British sovereigns of (25.22). Nickel pieces worth 5, 10 and 20 bani were authorized by a law of 1900.

[edit] After World War II

Further information: Communist Romania

After World War II, the leu suffered heavy depreciation, and was reevaluated in 1947 and 1952. The first was carried out at a single rate of 1 "new" leu for 20,000 "old" lei. The second, however, employed different rates for different kinds of exchange (cash, bank deposits, debts, etc) and different amounts. These rates ranged from 20 to 400 "old lei" for 1 "new" leu. Both revaluations, called monetary reforms or stabilisation measures (mica stabilizare, marea stabilizare), were done by the Communist authorities with absolutely no advance warning and without the possibility to exchange more than a fixed amount of money for the new currency. This was done in order to depose the former middle and upper classes of their last assets, after nationalization, to prepare for collectivization, and to finalize the installation of communism.

During the communist era, the gold standard was dropped after requiring severe adjustments to prevent inflation following the revaluations. After the gold standard was dropped, the leu lost all convertibility and, between 1970 and 1989, there was no official exchange rate between the leu and foreign currencies, other than a useless, fixed, and over-valuated rate given through law by the government as propaganda. In fact, lei could not be legally exchanged for any other currency and, owning or attempting to buy or sell foreign currency was a criminal offence, punished with up to 10 years in prison. International trade was therefore considered as part of another economic circuit than domestic trade, and given greater priority. This inflexibility and the existence of surplus money due to constant economic decline in the 1980s mixed with the need for more foreign currency and the refusal of the very unpopular Ceauşescu regime to accept inflation as a phenomenon in order to attain convertibility, led to one of the greatest supply side crisis in Romanian history, culminating with the introduction of food rationing starting 1986/1987, and partly triggering the downfall of communism.

[edit] After 1990

Further information: History of Romania since 1989

1,000,000 old lei 168 × 78 mm	100 new lei 147 × 82 mm
Same design, different sizes. The images are to scale.

In the 1990s, after the downfall of communism, inflation ran high due to reform failures, the legalisation of owning foreign currency in 1990, and the bankrupt policies of the former communist era, reaching rates as high as 300% per year in 1993. By September 2003, one euro was exchanged for more than 40,000 lei, this being its peak value. Following a number of successful monetary policies in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the situation became gradually more stable, with one digit inflation in 2005.

On 1 July 2005, the leu was revalued at the rate of 10,000 "old" lei (ROL) for one "new" leu (RON), thus psychologically bringing the purchasing power of the leu back in line with those of other major Western currencies. The first day brought difficulties adjusting to the new paper currencies and closed ATMs (that needed reprogramming) and forcing a new calculation habit that slowed down shops and annoyed some salespeople and shoppers. The old ROL currency remains in circulation until January 1, 2007, but all accounts have been converted starting July 1, 2005. There is no conversion time limit between the currencies.

The appreciation of the leu during 2005 was about 20% against a basket of major currencies.

[edit] Revaluation

The coins and notes in circulation on June 30, 2005, before the revaluation (denominare), are also legal tender until December 31, 2006. These are:

• coins: 500 lei (became 5 bani), 1000 lei (became 10 bani), 5000 lei (became 50 bani)
• notes: 10,000 lei (became 1 leu); 50,000 lei (became 5 lei); 100,000 lei (became 10 lei); 500,000 lei (became 50 lei); 1,000,000 lei (became 100 lei). Awkward enough, the term chosen for the action was "denominare", similar to the English "denomination", to signify not a conversion, but rather total reinvention.

Retailers had to display prices in both old and new currency from March 1, 2005 until June 30, 2006.

The Romanian leu briefly held the dubious distinction of being the world's least valued currency unit, from January (when the Turkish lira dropped six zeros) to July 2005. However, the 1,000,000 lei was not the highest Romanian denomination ever. This distinction belongs to the 1947 5 million lei bill.

As of 2006, the revaluation is a potential source of confusion, especially to visitors, since both old and new currency values are commonly quoted. When written, the very large amounts in old currency are usually obvious, but in speaking inhabitants might refer to an amount of 5 new lei as simply "fifty" in reference to its value 50,000 old lei.

The 2,000 lei bill and the 500 lei "special edition" coin were made in order to celebrate the 1999 total solar eclipse. Whereas the 500 lei coin is currently very rare, albeit still in circulation, becoming a prized collector's item, the 2000 lei bill was quite popular, being taken out of circulation in 2004 (a long time after the 1,000 and 5,000 lei bills were replaced by coins).

[edit] Coins

[edit] ROL coins

Old ROL coins were made of different materials, depending on value. Those commonly used in recent years (500 lei, 1000 lei and 5000 lei) were made of aluminum. They were all criticized for being clumsy and difficult to use. The 500 lei coins were very thick (about 0.5 cm). Despite their small value, it took only a handful of such coins to fill one's pocket. They were also made of poor material and could be occasionally found with bite marks. The 1000 lei coin was considered too small and was also cheaply made, and the 5000 lei coin was not circular (it was a dodecagon). This made it awkward to handle and difficult to use in slot machines, where it was frequently the only coin accepted.

[edit] RON coins

New Leu Coins
Image	Value	Technical parameters				Description			Date of
		Diameter	Thickness	Mass	Composition	Edge	Obverse	Reverse	first minting	issue
	1 ban 1	16.75 mm	1.6 mm	2.4 g	Brass plated steel	Smooth	Coat of arms, state title, year of minting	Value	2005	1 July 2005
	5 bani	18.25 mm	1.6 mm	2.78 g	Copper plated steel	Milled	Coat of arms, state title, year of minting	Value	2005	1 July 2005
	10 bani	20.50 mm	1.8 mm	4.0 g	Nickel plated steel	Alternately smooth and milled	Coat of arms, state title, year of minting	Value	2005	1 July 2005
	50 bani	23.75 mm	1.9 mm	6.1 g	Brass 80% copper 15% zinc 5% nickel	"ROMANIA * ROMANIA *"	Coat of arms, state title, year of minting	Value	2005	1 July 2005
These images are to scale at 2.5 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world coins. For table standards, see the coin specification table.

New RON coins also face criticism. Their size and very simple design make the coins hard to distinguish for the visually impaired. The quality of the materials used is also questionable, with coins becoming oxidized and dark within weeks from the initial release.

[edit] Note

1. small supply due to low value

[edit] Banknotes

[edit] ROL banknotes

[edit] 1952

1952 Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of printing
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		1 L	118 × 57 mm	Brown, yellow	Value	Coat of arms	1952
		3 L	122 × 61 mm	Dark brown, green	Value	Coat of arms	1952
		5 L	122 × 65 mm	Dark blue, yellow	Maid	Dam construction scene	1952
		10 L	135 × 73 mm	Red, green	Miner	Quarry scene	1952
		25 L	148 × 80 mm	Dark brown, violet	Tudor Vladimirescu	Harvesting scene	1952
		100 L	168 × 90 mm	Blue	Nicolae Bălcescu	Casa Scânteii	1952
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 1966

1966 Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of printing
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		1 L	103 × 52 mm	Brown, yellow	Coat of arms	Value	1966
		3 L	114 × 57 mm	Dark blue	Coat of arms	Value	1966
		5 L	124 × 62 mm	Light brown	Coat of arms	Port	1966
		10 L	131 × 65 mm	Violet	Coat of arms	Harvesting scene	1966
		25 L	140 × 70 mm	Dark green	Tudor Vladimirescu	Factory	1966
		50 L	145 × 72 mm	Green	Alexandru Ioan Cuza	Palace of Culture, Iaşi	1966
		100 L	153 × 75 mm	Blue	Nicolae Bălcescu	Romanian Athenaeum	1966
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 1991-1992

1991 Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of printing
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		500 L	156 × 74 mm	Brown	Constantin Brâncuşi	Constantin Brâncuşi	January 1991
							April 1991
		1000 L	167 × 76 mm	Red, green	Mihai Eminescu	Putna Monastery	September 1991
		5000 L	172 × 76 mm	Violet	Avram Iancu	Densuş Church, Dacian Draco, Gate of Alba Iulia	March 1992
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 1992-1994

1992 Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of printing
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		200 L	155 × 76 mm	Light brown	Grigore Antipa	Danube Delta	December 1992
		500 L	160 × 76 mm	Green	Constantin Brâncuşi	Sculptures by Brâncuşi	December 1992
		1000 L	167 × 76 mm	Red, green	Mihai Eminescu	Putna Monastery	May 1993
		5000 L	172 × 76 mm	Violet	Avram Iancu	Densuş Church, Dacian Draco, Gate of Alba Iulia	May 1993
		10 000 L	180 × 76 mm	Light red	Nicolae Iorga	Şuţu Palace	February 1994
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 1996-2000

1996 Series - paper
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of printing
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		1000 L	140 × 61 mm	Blue	Mihai Eminescu	Ruins of Histria, Linden tree flowers	1998
		5000 L	145 × 64 mm	Orange	Lucian Blaga	Crucifix	1998
		10 000 L	150 × 67 mm	Green	Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian	Cathedral of Curtea de Argeş	1999
		50 000 L	155 × 70 mm	Violet	George Enescu, Carnation	The sphinx of Bucegi Mountains	1996
		50 000 L	155 × 70 mm	Violet	George Enescu, Carnation	The sphinx of Bucegi Mountains	2000
		100 000 L	160 × 73 mm	Red	Nicolae Grigorescu, Marshmallow	traditional house from Oltenia	1998
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] 1999-2003

1996 Series - polymer
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description		Date of printing
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		2000 L	143 × 63 mm	Blue, yellow, red	Solar eclipse of 1999 August 11	Map of Romania	1999
		10 000 L	150 × 67 mm	Green	Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian	Cathedral of Curtea de Argeş	2000
		50 000 L	155 × 70 mm	Violet	George Enescu, Carnation	Romanian Athenaeum	2001
		100 000 L	160 × 73 mm	Orange, light red	Nicolae Grigorescu, Marshmallow	traditional house from Oltenia	2001
		500 000 L	165 × 76 mm	Yellow	Aurel Vlaicu, Edelweiss	Vlaicu II airplane design	2000
		1 000 000 L	168 × 78 mm	Blue	Ion Luca Caragiale, Sweet violet	National Theatre of Bucharest (old building)	2003
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] RON banknotes

The leu notes issued on 1 July 2005 are similar in size to euro banknotes, so that machines will need less refitting in the case Romania decides to join the euro zone. This decision was taken after a lot of debate, and with some opposition, the initial decision being to make them even smaller, similar to the 1966 series. The old leu notes are rather long and fairly uncomfortable to carry.

The design of the notes follows some common guidelines: the obverse shows a flower native to Romania and the portrait of a Romanian cultural personality; the reverse shows a building or a well-known monument. All banknotes are printed on plastic polymer, each in its own colour theme (light green for 1 leu, light purple for 5 lei, light pink and light orange for 10 lei, yellow for 50 lei, blue for 100 lei, light blue for 500 lei).

Each banknote also features a small transparent window, in the shape of a distinctive item characterising the activity of the pictured personality, a heraldic symbol for Nicolae Iorga, a music key for George Enescu, painting implements for Nicolae Grigorescu, an eagle for flying pioneer Aurel Vlaicu, theater masks for Ion Luca Caragiale, a pen point for Lucian Blaga and an hourglass symbolising poetry and time for Mihai Eminescu. Each banknote has a different texture, to be easily recognised in the pocket or by those with visual impairments.

2005 Series
Image		Value	Dimensions	Like which euro	Main Colour	Description		Date of printing
Obverse	Reverse					Obverse	Reverse
		1 L	120 × 62 mm	€5	Green	Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian	Cathedral of Curtea de Argeş	1 July 2005
		5 L	127 × 67 mm	€10	Violet	George Enescu, Carnation	Romanian Athenaeum	1 July 2005
		10 L	133 × 72 mm	€20	Orange, light red	Nicolae Grigorescu, Marshmallow	Traditional house from Oltenia	1 July 2005
		50 L	140 × 77 mm	€50	Yellow	Aurel Vlaicu, Edelweiss	Vlaicu II airplane design	1 July 2005
		100 L	147 × 82 mm	€100	Blue	Ion Luca Caragiale, Sweet violet	National Theatre of Bucharest (old building)	1 July 2005
		200 L	150 × 82 mm	None	Brown, orange	Lucian Blaga, Poppy	A watermill and the Hamangia Thinker	1 December 2006
		500 L	153 × 82 mm	€200	Blue, violet	Mihai Eminescu, Tilia	University of Iaşi Library	1 July 2005
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

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[edit] See also

• History of Romanian coins
• Romanian euro coins

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Current legal tender pictures
• www.denominare.ro - The official site of the leu revaluation

Pre-euro and other EU currencies

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