Money in Romania

**Daos** · 09-18-2010, 05:57 PM

On April 22, 1867, a bimetallic currency was adopted, with the leu equal to 5 grams of 83.5% silver or 0.29032 grams of gold.

After 1878 the silver Russian ruble was valued so highly as to drive the native coins out of circulation. Consequently, in 1889, Romania unilaterally joined the Latin Monetary Union and adopted a gold standard. Silver coins were 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 (25.22).

Romania left the gold standard in 1914 and the leu's value fell. The exchange rate was pegged at 167.20 lei = 1 U.S. Dollar on February 7, 1929, 135.95 lei on November 5, 1936, 204.29 lei on May 18, 1940, and 187.48 Lei on March 31, 1941. During Romania's World War II alliance with Nazi Germany, the leu was pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate of 49.50 lei = 1 Reichsmark, falling to 59.5 lei in April 1941. During Soviet occupation, the exchange rate was 1 ruble = 100 lei. After the war, the value of the currency fell dramatically.

[SPOILER=Carol I (prince) (1866-1881)]

Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was elected prince of Romania on 20 April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexander John Cuza by a palace coup. Immediately after arriving in the country, the Romanian parliament adopted, on 29 June 1866, the 1866 Constitution of Romania, one of the most advanced constitutions of its time. This constitution allowed the development and modernization of the Romanian state. In a daring move, the Constitution chose to ignore the country's current dependence on the Ottoman Empire, which paved the way for Independence.

1 ban (1867)

1 leu (1870)

1 leu (1873)

50 bani (1876)

5 lei (1877)

20 lei (1877)

100 lei (1877)

2 bani (1880)[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Carol I (king) (1881-1914)]

After the proclamation of the Independence (1877), Romania was effectively a kingdom. From 1878, Carol held the title of Royal Highness (Alteță Regală). On 15 March 1881, the Constitution was modified to state, among other things, that from then on the head of state would be called king, while the heir would be called prince royal. The same year he was crowned King.

1 ban (1888)

50 bani (1894)

5 bani (1900)

20 lei (1901)

20 bani (1906)

50 lei (1906)

25 lei (1906)

100 lei (1906)

50 bani (1910)

2 lei (1914)[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Ferdinand (1914-1927)]

Following the renunciations, first of his father (1880) and then of elder brother Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, in 1886, young Ferdinand became the heir to the throne of his childless uncle, King Carol I.

1 leu (1915)

10 bani (1917)

25 bani (1917)

50 bani (1917)

1 leu (1917)

2 lei (1917)

5 lei (1917)

20 lei (1917)

100 lei (1917)

1000 lei (1917)

2 Lei (1920)

5 lei (1920)

25 bani (1921)

5 lei (1922)

20 lei (1922)

50 lei (1922)

2 lei (1924)

20 lei (1924)[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Mihai (regency) (1927-1930)]

A regency, which included his uncle, Prince Nicolae, Patriarch Miron Cristea, and the country's Chief Justice (Gheorghe Buzdugan, from October 1929 on Constantin Sărățeanu) functioned on behalf of the 5-year-old Michael during the 1927–1930 period.

20 lei (1930)[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Carol II (1930-1940)]

Returning to the country unexpectedly on 7 June 1930, Carol reneged on the renunciation and was proclaimed King the following day. For the next decade he sought to influence the course of Romanian political life, first through manipulation of the rival Peasant and Liberal parties and anti-Semitic factions, and subsequently (January 1938) through a ministry of his own choosing (the National Renaissance Front), with a constitution (27 February) reserving ultimate power to the Crown. In 1938, he banned the Iron Guard, which he had supported in the 1930s.

Carol also sought to build up his own personality cult to counter the growing influence of the Iron Guard, for instance by setting up a paramilitary youth organization known as Straja Țării in 1935.

10 lei (1930)

100 lei (1931)

5000 lei (1931)

100 lei (1932)

500 lei (1934)

1000 lei (1934)

250 lei (1935)

100 lei (1936)

500 lei (1936)

1000 lei (1936)

2 lei (1937)

50 lei (1937)

1 leu (1938)

500 lei (1938)

1000 lei (1938)

250 lei (1939)

500 lei (1939)

100 lei (1940)[/SPOILER]

**Daos** · 09-18-2010, 06:04 PM

[SPOILER=Mihai (1940-1947)]

In September 1940, the pro-German anti-Bolshevik régime of Prime Minister Marshal Ion Antonescu staged a coup d'état against Carol II, whom the Marshal claimed to be 'anti-German'. Antonescu suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Parliament, and re-installed the 18-year-old Michael as King by popular acclaim. (Although the Constitution was restored in 1944 and the Romanian Parliament in 1946, Michael did not either subsequently take a formal oath or have his reign approved retroactively by Parliament). Michael was crowned with the Steel Crown and anointed King of Romania by the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania, Nicodim Munteanu, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest, on the day of his accession, 6 September 1940. Although King Michael was formally the Supreme Head of the Army and entitled to appoint the Prime Minister with full powers named 'Leader of the people' (Conducător), in reality he was forced to remain only a figurehead until August 1944.

2 lei (1941)

500 lei (1941)

1000 lei (1941)

2000 lei (1941)

5000 lei (1941)

20 lei (1945)

100 lei (1945)

500 lei (1945)

10000 lei (1945)

100,000 lei (1945)

25,000 lei (1946)

100,000 lei (1946)

1,000,000 lei (1947)

5,000,000 lei (1947)[/SPOILER]

**Daos** · 09-22-2010, 05:56 AM

On August 15, 1947, a revaluation took place, with a new leu replacing the old one at a rate of 20,000 old lei = 1 new leu. This revaluation, called a monetary reform or stabilisation measure (mica stabilizare, marea stabilizare), was carried out 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. At the time of its introduction, 150 new lei equalled 1 U.S. dollar.

Spoiler!

**Daos** · 09-28-2010, 09:27 AM

On January 28, 1952, another new leu was introduced. Unlike the previous revaluation, different rates were employed 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. Again, no advance warning was given before the reform took place

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 convertibility and, between 1970 and 1989, the official exchange rate was fixed by the government through law. This exchange rate was used by the government to calculate the value of foreign trade, but foreign currency was not available to be bought and sold by private individuals. Owning or attempting to buy or sell foreign currency was a criminal offence, punishable with a prison sentence that could go up to 10 years (depending on the amount of foreign currency found under one's possession). 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 Ceaușescu regime to accept inflation as a phenomenon in order to attain convertibility, led to one of the greatest supply side crises in Romanian history, culminating with the introduction of food rationing starting 1986/87 (actually the food rationing was introduced in the summer of 1980 - however it was extended to absolutely all basic foods only a few years later. The introduction of food rationing was carried on at different times in different regions ), and partly triggering the downfall of communism.

In the 1990s, after the downfall of communism, inflation ran high due to reform failures, the legalization 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.

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 bill was not the highest Romanian denomination ever. This distinction belongs to the 5 million lei bill from 1947.

Spoiler!

**Daos** · 09-30-2010, 11:28 AM

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 term chosen for the action was "denominare", similar to the English "denomination", to signify not a conversion, but rather a total reinvention.

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 sales staff and older shoppers. The old ROL currency banknotes remained in circulation until December 31, 2006 (coins remained in circulation only until December 31, 2005), but all accounts have been converted starting July 1, 2005. There is no conversion time limit between the currencies. Retailers had to display prices in both old and new currency from March 1, 2005 until June 30, 2006. The appreciation of the leu during 2005 was about 20% against a basket of major currencies.

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 of 50,000 old lei.

Spoiler!

**Daos** · 08-04-2011, 06:46 AM

It's interesting to note that our money have the following symbols:

From Wallachia:
1. The Curtea de Argeș Cathedral (1 leu)
2. The eagle from the Wallachian coat of arms (1 leu)
3. The Romanian Athenaeum (5 lei)
4. Nicolae Grigorescu and a fragment of one of his paintings(5 lei)
5. An Oltenian „cula” (a type of noble's house) (10 lei)
6. Ion Luca Caragiale and a statue of him (100 lei)
7. The National Theatre Bucharest (100 lei)
8. The Timpul newspaper (500 lei)
9. The Thinker of Hamangia (500 lei)
From Moldavia:
1. Nicolae Iorga (1 leu)
2. George Enescu (5 lei)
3. Mihai Eminescu (500 de lei)
4. The Central University Library of Iași (500 de lei)
From Transylvania:
1. Aurel Vlaicu and one of his aeroplane prototypes (50 lei)
2. Lucian Blaga (200 de lei)

The way Wallachia (mostly Bucharest) imposes itself is painfully obvious, just as obvious as the fact that Transylvania is of little importance to them, certainly less important than Moldova.

Now let's take a look at the presence of Transylvanian symbols on the Hungarian banknotes:

Francis II Rákóczi (500 forint)
Matthias Corvinus (1000 forint)
Gabriel Bethlen (2000 forint)

I guess Hungarians love Transylvania more...

**Sabinae** · 08-06-2011, 02:02 PM

We also have special edition money series... For instance in 1999, because of the special event of the Sun Eclipse, we had:

info

**Nurzat** · 08-06-2011, 02:06 PM

nice to see there's money in romania

**~~Böri~~** · 06-04-2018, 08:33 PM

Romania means country of Romans. They speak eastern Latin and claim descent of Antiquity Roman colonists to Dacia. Western nation especially like France kept supporting Romanians against all the other South Slavs, Hungarians and Russians because of this western element in their ethnicity. However, genetically Romanians plot next to their neighbors, we can't talk about a substantial genetic input from Italic (or other Roman) colonists.

**ovidiu** · 06-05-2018, 11:32 PM

Very informative thread, and quite thorough. I wonder what the origin of ban was?

And some of the older currency names are pretty interesting in a historical context.

The standard 'leu' is lion but I think Bulgaria also uses a name based on lion for theirs?