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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)
25 bani (1917)
50 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)
1 leu (1938)
500 lei (1938)
1000 lei (1938)
250 lei (1939)
500 lei (1939)
100 lei (1940)[/SPOILER]
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