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Romanian leu

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Romanian leu
leu românesc (Romanian)
Image:1 RON.jpg Image:001 RON.gif
1 leu 1 ban
ISO 4217 Code RON
User(s) Romania
Inflation 7.1%
Source National Bank of Romania, June 2006
Subunit
1/100 ban (b)
Symbol L
Coins 1, 5, 10, 50 bani
Banknotes 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 lei
Central bank National Bank of Romania
Website www.bnr.ro
Printer National Bank of Romania
Website www.bnr.ro
Mint Monetăria Statului
Website www.monetariastatului.ro
"ROL" redirects here. For the Maldivian internet service provider, see Raajjé Online.

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<ref>ING Financial News, Romania to adopt euro in 2012-2014, BNR Governor Mugur Isărescu estimates, May 29, 2006 - accessed on October 21, 2006</ref>.

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

[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

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

Image:KreuzerBern.jpg

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

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

Image:Bani10-1867.jpg 5 lei coin minted in 1883 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

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.

a 10 lei banknote issued in 1966

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

134px118px
1,000,000 old lei
168 x 78 mm
100 new lei
147 x 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 actually used (500 lei, 1000 lei and 5000 lei) were made of aluminum, each facing criticism in the past: the 500 lei coins were very thick (about 0.5 cm). Five of such coins could fill one's pocket, even though they had a very small value, and were made of poor material (some coming with bite marks), the 1000 lei coin was too small, while also made of poor material, and the 5000 lei coin was not circular (it was a dodecagon), facing problems with slot machines (it was the only one used in these), and having a rather uncomfortable handling.

[edit] RON coins

New Leu Coins
Image Value Technical parameters Description Date of first minting
Diameter Thickness Mass Composition Edge Obverse Reverse
Image:1 b.jpg 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
Image:5 b.jpg 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
Image:10b.jpg 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
Image:50b.jpg 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
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
Image:ROL 1 1952 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 1 1952 reverse.jpg 1 L 118 x 57 mm Brown, yellow Value Coat of arms 1952
Image:ROL 3 1952 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 3 1952 reverse.jpg 3 L 122 x 61 mm Dark brown, green Value Coat of arms 1952
Image:ROL 5 1952 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 5 1952 reverse.jpg 5 L 122 x 65 mm Dark blue, yellow Maid Dam construction scene 1952
Image:ROL 10 1952 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 10 1952 reverse.jpg 10 L 135 x 73 mm Red, green Miner Quarry scene 1952
Image:ROL 25 1952 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 25 1952 reverse.jpg 25 L 148 x 80 mm Dark brown, violet Tudor Vladimirescu Harvesting scene 1952
Image:ROL 100 1952 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 100 1952 reverse.jpg 100 L 168 x 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
Image:ROL 1 1966 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 1 1966 reverse.jpg 1 L 103 x 52 mm Brown, yellow Coat of arms Value 1966
Image:ROL 3 1966 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 3 1966 reverse.jpg 3 L 114 x 57 mm Dark blue Coat of arms Value 1966
Image:ROL 5 1966 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 5 1966 reverse.jpg 5 L 124 x 62 mm Light brown Coat of arms Port 1966
Image:ROL 10 1966 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 10 1966 reverse.jpg 10 L 131 x 65 mm Violet Coat of arms Harvesting scene 1966
Image:ROL 25 1966 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 25 1966 reverse.jpg 25 L 140 x 70 mm Dark green Tudor Vladimirescu Factory 1966
Image:ROL 50 1966 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 50 1966 reverse.jpg 50 L 145 x 72 mm Green Alexandru Ioan Cuza Palace of Culture, Iaşi 1966
Image:ROL 100 1966 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 100 1966 reverse.jpg 100 L 153 x 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
Image:ROL 500 1991 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 500 1991 reverse.jpg 500 L 156 x 74 mm Brown Constantin Brâncuşi Constantin Brâncuşi January 1991
April 1991
Image:ROL 1000 1991 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 1000 1991 reverse.jpg 1000 L 167 x 76 mm Red, green Mihai Eminescu Putna Monastery September 1991
Image:ROL 5000 1992 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 5000 1992 reverse.jpg 5000 L 172 x 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
Image:ROL 200 1992 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 200 1992 reverse.jpg 200 L 155 x 76 mm Light brown Grigore Antipa Danube Delta December 1992
Image:ROL 500 1992 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 500 1992 reverse.jpg 500 L 160 x 76 mm Green Constantin Brâncuşi Sculptures by Brâncuşi December 1992
Image:ROL 1000 1993 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 1000 1993 reverse.jpg 1000 L 167 x 76 mm Red, green Mihai Eminescu Putna Monastery May 1993
Image:ROL 5000 1993 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 5000 1993 reverse.jpg 5000 L 172 x 76 mm Violet Avram Iancu Densuş Church, Dacian Draco, Gate of Alba Iulia May 1993
Image:ROL 10000 1994 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 10000 1994 reverse.jpg 10 000 L 180 x 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
Image:ROL 1000 1998 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 1000 1998 reverse.jpg 1000 L 140 x 61 mm Blue Mihai Eminescu Ruins of Histria, Linden tree flowers 1998
Image:ROL 5000 1998 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 5000 1998 reverse.jpg 5000 L 145 x 64 mm Orange Lucian Blaga Crucifix 1998
Image:ROL 10000 1999 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 10000 1999 reverse.jpg 10 000 L 150 x 67 mm Green Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian Cathedral of Curtea de Argeş 1999
Image:ROL 50000 1996 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 50000 1996 reverse.jpg 50 000 L 155 x 70 mm Violet George Enescu, Carnation The sphinx of Bucegi Mountains 1996
Image:ROL 50000 2000 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 50000 2000 reverse.jpg 50 000 L 155 x 70 mm Violet George Enescu, Carnation The sphinx of Bucegi Mountains 2000
Image:ROL 100000 1998 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 100000 1998 reverse.jpg 100 000 L 160 x 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
Image:ROL 2000 1999 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 2000 1999 reverse.jpg 2000 L 143 x 63 mm Blue, yellow, red Solar eclipse of 1999 August 11 Map of Romania 1999
Image:ROL 10000 2000 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 10000 2000 reverse.jpg 10 000 L 150 x 67 mm Green Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian Cathedral of Curtea de Argeş 2000
Image:ROL 50000 2001 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 50000 2001 reverse.jpg 50 000 L 155 x 70 mm Violet George Enescu, Carnation Romanian Athenaeum 2001
Image:ROL 100000 2001 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 100000 2001 reverse.jpg 100 000 L 160 x 73 mm Orange, light red Nicolae Grigorescu, Marshmallow traditional house from Oltenia 2001
Image:ROL 500000 2000 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 500000 2000 reverse.jpg 500 000 L 165 x 76 mm Yellow Aurel Vlaicu, Edelweiss Vlaicu II airplane design 2000
Image:ROL 1000000 2003 obverse.jpg Image:ROL 1000000 2003 reverse.jpg 1 000 000 L 168 x 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
Image:1L av.jpg Image:1L rev.jpg 1 L 120 x 62 mm €5 Green Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian Cathedral of Curtea de Argeş 1 July 2005
Image:5L av.jpg Image:5L rev.jpg 5 L 127 x 67 mm €10 Violet George Enescu, Carnation Romanian Athenaeum 1 July 2005
Image:10L av.jpg Image:10L rev.jpg 10 L 133 x 72 mm €20 Orange, light red Nicolae Grigorescu, Marshmallow Traditional house from Oltenia 1 July 2005
Image:50L av.jpg Image:50L rev.jpg 50 L 140 x 77 mm €50 Yellow Aurel Vlaicu, Edelweiss Vlaicu II airplane design 1 July 2005
Image:100L av.jpg Image:100L rev.jpg 100 L 147 x 82 mm €100 Blue Ion Luca Caragiale, Sweet violet National Theatre of Bucharest (old building) 1 July 2005
Image:200L av.jpg Image:200 L rev.jpg 200 L 150 x 82 mm None Brown, orange Lucian Blaga, Poppy A watermill and the Hamangia Thinker 1 December 2006
Image:500L av.jpg Image:500L rev.jpg 500 L 153 x 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.
Current RON exchange rates
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[edit] See also

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links


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bg:Румънска лея

ca:Leu de:Rumänischer Leu es:Leu rumano eo:Leŭo fr:Leu roumain it:Leu rumeno he:לאו (מטבע) ka:რუმინული ლეი hu:Román leu mo:Леу ромынеск nl:Roemeense leu pl:Lej ro:Leu românesc ru:Румынский лей sv:Rumänsk leu

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