Talk:Romanian leu

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[edit] RON v.s. EUR

If Romania is planning to replace the leu with the Euro, why bother revaluing the currency now? Why not just wait until they go over to the Euro, so that they'd only have to replace their currency once instead of two times?

First of all, the switch to the Euro is years from now. Romania will join the EU in 2007 (or later) and will join the Eurozone even later on. Not sure how later, as accession agreements aren't (yet?) public.
On a more hearsay level, I've heard the head of Romania's National Bank saying that the psychological impact of switching currency is going to be its stabilisation, though I'm not sure how/if that will work. (But, they also mentioned the fact they currently use too much paper to write sums in the current currency and that switching will reduce the amount of forests they have to cut down, so I'm not really sure how trustworthy their statements are) gcbirzan 00:48, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Furthermore, switching to a plastic currency will mean they cut down even less trees... And I guess, although have no source, that there are also significant security advantages to the new plastic currency. The article does mention that efforts were made to use a note size similar to that of the Euro notes so that machines can be switched over relatively easily. Iancaddy 22:25, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I don't think that Romania will switch to the Euro at all, since public opinion polls have shown that the majority of Romanians are very hostile to the idea of having a European currency replacing the Leu. Voievod 19:50, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] American plant on Romanian banknotes

The National Bank of Romania website says that the plant featured on the 1,000,000 lei banknot is "Violet flower (Viola sororia)". However, Viola sororia grows in the Eastern Northern America (Quebec to Wyoming and south to Oklahoma and N. Carolina.) [1]

I assume that the plant pictured is actually the Romanian "toporaş" (sweet violet). What should this article say ? (the two plants look the same to my untrained eye) Bogdan | Talk 18:54, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The "toporaş" is also called "violetă" (which I guess could be translated as "violet flower") or "viorea". The latin name is scilla bifolia.
Apparently "toporaş" is a name for more than one plant, but the one that matches the drawing on the banknote is sweet violet, ("Viola odorata"). bogdan ʤjuʃkə | Talk 3 July 2005 21:15 (UTC)

[edit] Voievods ?

Yo, what happened to the Voievods that used to appear on the back of the coins ? We used to have Ioan Cuza Vodǎ on the back of the 50 Lei coin, Mihai Viteazul on the back of the 100 Lei coin...Where are they now ? The banknotes all have some famous writer or poet like Mihai Eminescu and Caragiale, but the coins always had Voievods. I went over to the site that shows photos of the new Lei and the coins only have the Romanian Coat of Arms on the back. I mean, not one Voievod ! Not one single great historical warrior that protected our country from the marauding invaders ! That really sucks ! Our coins need symbols like Voievods, the government is trying to convince people to be more patriotic but they're doing away with patriotic symbols ! Please cut it out... Voievod 19:50, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

Now, that's what I'm talking about !

[edit] Update reason

Updated Section 4.1 "Coins" to use '.' instead of ',' for decimal separation to be consistent with other sections on the page.

[edit] Polymer Banknotes

When were polymer banknotes introduced? Or have they always been polymer? - FrancisTyers 17:22, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

In 1999. See: Polymer banknote#Adoption of polymer banknotes. bogdan | Talk 18:18, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Not new leu

According to the National Bank of Romania: http://www.bnro.ro
Moneda naţională este leul, iar subdiviziunea acestuia este banul.
The domestic currency is the leu, with its fractional coin, the ban.

That is the official name used in all official documents and on all coins and banknotes. This is unlike the New Turkish Lira, where the official name includes the word "new" ('yeni'), which is written even on the banknotes. bogdan 22:37, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

Mh. Alright, you've got a point. Sorry for not checking all official sources before moving, and thanks for the heads-up. ナイトスタリオン ✉ 22:39, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology of "ban"

Apparently Octavian Iliescu disagrees with the etymology here and says it comes from moneta banalis or one of several similar terms. I'd imagine he is citable, at least as one theory of the etymology. Someone might want to search around and see if they can also cite for what is currently here. He admits it is a controversial question. - Jmabel | Talk 06:22, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History of Leu

Much of the history section of this article deals with the history of Romanian coins in general. However, this an article about the Romanian "Leu". Maybe the history section should be limited to the leu. The history of Romanian coins in general perhaps should be better treated in History of Romanian coins article, which is relatively short. Tavilis 20:39, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

I'd have no problem with refactoring, as long as we are clear in saying where to go for earlier history. The recently added material was all translated from the corresponding Romanian-language article for what it is worth, not from something called monede de România or some such. - Jmabel | Talk 18:09, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Colored coins?

The RON coins are made of nickel, with a very simple, identical design (obverse : the nominal value, reverse : the coat of arms of Romania, the text Romania and the year of issue). Each has a different color:

What gives the coins their color? Nik42 07:00, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

[2]. Too bad they don't say the composition. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 07:06, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 5 and 10 lei coins

Does anyone know the basis (if any) for this anonymous removal? - Jmabel | Talk 20:13, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

I made a similar change at [3]. I had the catalog with me when I edited it. --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 20:33, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Symbol "L" for the leu?

Can someone give a source, please? I can't remember seeing the symbol or abbreviation L for lei anywhere. The common usage is "XXX,XX lei", which kinda makes sense, because "lei" is so short typographically :) Iulian U. 12:54, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

If you have lived in Romania long enough, and can't see any reference to "L", then, by all means, please take it off, or change it to "none". --ChoChoPK (球球PK) (talk | contrib) 06:56, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

I asked Romanian native User:Andrei Stroe (see our talk pages) and he said, "There is actually no such symbol - instead, the word lei (or leu, for singular) is used (it is short enough). And sometimes, the ISO code (RON)." So I guess the answer is no. – Zntrip 01:45, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New article for coins?

Given the growing size of this article, can I suggest that the tables of coins with images be put into their own article, Coins of the Romanian leu, in the same way that we have Banknotes of the Romanian leu?
Dove1950 10:32, 12 October 2007 (UTC)