Since 1867 there have been four successive currencies in Romania known as the leu (plural lei). This article details the banknotes denominated in the leu and its subdivision the ban since 1917, with images.
Banknotes of the first leu (ROL) 1877 issue 1877 Bilet Hypothecar Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal 5 LBlue187712 June 1877June 1889 Etimologie Numismatica Originea Numelor Monedelor Nationale 10 L 20 L 50 L 100 L 500 L
1909–1916 issue 1909–1916 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue 1 L 2 L 5 L 20 L 100 L 500 L 1000 L
German occupation WWI issue 1917 German Occupation Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal 25 b 95 × 60 mm 19171917 50 b108 × 70 mm 1 L130 × 80 mm 2 L132 × 80 mm 5 L144 × 90 mm 20 L160 × 98 mm 100 L188 × 115 mm 1000 L213 × 130 mm
1917 issue ("paper coins") Issued in Iași, during World War I by the Ministry of Finance, as war money. The banknotes represent the ban (pl. bani).
1917 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue 10 b 33 × 44 mm green King Ferdinand Coat of arms 1917 25 b 39 × 51 mm green, yellow 50 b 45 × 60 mm green, orange
1920 issue 1920 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue 1 L 78 × 55 blue industrial landscape, value, maid Coat of arms, Capitoline Wolf, Decebal, Trajan 1920 17 July 1920 2 L 104 × 68 maid, value, vulture Coat of arms, two Romanian soldiers 5 L 133 × 81 blue, red, violet Coat of arms, value, peasant lady spinning wool maid and child in a loom, value 25 March 1920
1934–1947 issue The 5,000, 10,000, 100,000 (1946), 1,000,000, and 5,000,000 lei banknotes from the 1943–1947 series had the left edge wavy.
1922–1947 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of printing and issue Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse Watermark 500 L 157 × 86 brown Romanian peasant women, the small coat of arms, value Peleș Castle continuous rows BNR 1934–1942 1,000 L 183 × 104 brown, green Romanian peasant women, value Romanian peasant women King Carol II 1936–1940 green, purple Nerva Traian 1941–1945 2,000 L 201 × 113 brown Romanian peasant women, the middle coat of arms, industrial landscape, Peleș Castle (in the background) 1941 continuous rows BNR 1943–1945 5,000 L 166 × 91 blue Decebal, Nerva Traian, the middle coat of arms, industrial, urban and rural landscape Nerva Traian 1943 continuous rows BNR 1945 10,000 L 194 × 107 brown, pink Romanian peasant women, the middle coat of arms, value Romanian peasant women, the middle coat of arms 1945–1946 100,000 L 187 × 90 blue, green Romanian peasant women, value 1946 100,000 L 182 × 88 pink, orange Decebal, Nerva Traian, value Romanian peasants, the middle coat of arms, value 1947 1,000,000 L 190 × 90 green, blue 205x105 yellow, brown Capitoline Wolf, value Romanian peasants, value
Red Army 1944 issue 1944 Red Army Occupation Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal 5 L115 x 60 mmBlue1944 1 October 1944 10 L160 x 80 mmBrown 20 L170 x 85 mmBlue 100 L186 x 100 mmBrown-olive 500 L195 x 104 mmBrown 1000 L200 x 105 mmRed 5000 L205 x 102 mmBlue
Banknotes of the second leu (ROS) Kingdom of Romania 1947 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse issue withdrawal lapse 20 L Trajan and Decebal 15 August 1947 30 January 1952 1 February 1952 100 L Brown three workers holding a hammer, a bunch of wheat and a torch "Romania" 500 L Romanian peasant woman Tudor Vladimirescu Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania, replaced since 1948 by the coat of arms of the People's Republic of Romania
People's Republic of Romania 1948 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse issue withdrawal lapse 20 L 138 × 63 mm Brown, green maiden Coat of arms 15 October 1948 30 January 1952 1 February 1952 500 L 157 × 73 mm Red Horea, Cloșca and Crișan Factory 1000 L 172 × 80 mm Blue Nicolae Bălcescu River natural scene
Banknotes of the third leu (ROL)
1952 issue 1952 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal 1 L 118 × 57 mm Brown, yellow Value Coat of arms January 1952 28 January 1952 16 April 1970 3 L 122 × 61 mm Dark brown, green 5 L 122 × 65 mm Dark blue, yellow Maid Dam construction scene 10 L 135 × 73 mm Red, green Furnace worker Quarry scene 25 L 148 × 80 mm Dark brown, violet Tudor Vladimirescu Harvesting scene 100 L 168 × 90 mm Blue Nicolae Bălcescu Casa Scânteii
1966 issue 1966 Series Image Value Dimensions Main colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal 1 L 103 × 52 mm Brown, yellow Coat of arms Value 1966 1 November 1966 15 December 1996 (no longer in circulation since 1970–1972) 3 L 114 × 57 mm Dark blue 5 L 124 × 62 mm Light brown Port 15 December 1996 (no longer in circulation since 1984–1986) 10 L 131 × 65 mm Violet Harvesting scene 15 December 1996 (no longer in circulation since 1990–1994) 25 L 140 × 70 mm Dark green Tudor Vladimirescu Factory (Coke ovens of the Hunedoara Steelworks) 50 L 145 × 72 mm Green Alexandru Ioan Cuza Palace of Culture, Iași 100 L 153 × 75 mm Blue Nicolae Bălcescu Romanian Athenaeum In 1966, as the Socialist Republic of Romania was established, a new remake of the banknote series was made. These were printed between 1966 and 1990, though similar to the Soviet Ruble's 1961 series, they were only dated to 1966. Gold standard was abandoned after drastic measures were required to prevent inflation. This caused the Leu to lose exchange parity with other foreign currencies from 1970 to 1989. The exchange rate was set by the leadership through legislative measures. The exchange rate was used by the regime to calculate the value of trade to other states. These banknotes were prohibited from selling to private individuals. Possession or sale of currency was a criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Foreign trade was considered part of a different economic circuit than the domestic one and was given greater importance. In 1987, hyperinflation began to appear and the National Bank wanted to issue higher denomination banknotes but Ceausescu refused. After the Romanian Revolution, these banknotes were kept in circulation even against the fact that all of them were coined in the first years. During the hyperinflation, these notes began to lose total value and after 1997, all socialist banknotes were completely withdrawn.
1991–1992 issue 1991 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing withdrawal 500 L 157 × 75 mm Brown Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși January 1991 16 December 1999 April 1991 1,000 L 167 × 75 mm Red, green Mihai Eminescu Putna Monastery September 1991 1 April 1999 172 × 77 mm Violet, blue Avram Iancu Densuș Church, Dacian Draco, Gate of Alba Iulia Citadel March 1992 These banknotes were released due to the fact that Romania did not change its socialist coat of arms until the Constitution of 1991 was introduced in September 1992. Following this, these banknotes continued to circulate with the later 1992-93 versions of these banknotes in parallel and were treated the same. Surprisingly, they lost more value than the socialist banknotes during their existence. 1992 Series Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing withdrawal 200 L 155 × 76 mm Light brown, blue Grigore Antipa Danube Delta December 1992 31 March 1999 500 L 160 × 76 mm Green, red Constantin Brâncuși Sculptures by Brâncuși 16 December 1999 1,000 L 167 × 75 mm Red, green Mihai Eminescu Putna Monastery May 1993 1 April 1999 5,000 L 172 × 77 mm Violet, blue Avram Iancu Densuș Church, Dacian Draco, Gate of Alba Iulia Citadel 180 × 77 mm Light red, violet Nicolae Iorga Șuțu Palace February 1994 16 December 2000 After the adoption of the new coat of arms with the Constitution of 1991, banknotes with the new coat of arms began to be printed. As a result of hyperinflation, not longer after the series was finished in May 1993, the new 10,000 Lei was introduced in 1994 (the first and only banknote with a segment thread that changes color (from purple to lime green)) as a result of the ongoing hyperinflation.
1996–2000 issue 1996 Series - paper Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal lapse 1,000 L 140 × 61 mm Blue Mihai Eminescu Ruins of Histria, Linden tree flowers 1998 1 June 1998 17 December 2001 1 February 2002 5,000 L 145 × 64 mm Orange Lucian Blaga Crucifix 17 June 2002 1 October 2002 10,000 L 150 × 67 mm Green Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian Cathedral of Curtea de Argeș 1999 15 July 1999 16 December 2002 1 July 2003 50,000 L 155 × 70 mm Violet George Enescu, Carnation, irregular shape with safety feature The Sphinx of Bucegi Mountains, musical chord from "Oedip King" 1996 20 November 1996 George Enescu, Carnation, shape of a violin 2000 6 March 2000 1 June 2004 1 January 2005 160 × 73 mm Red Nicolae Grigorescu, Marshmallow traditional house from Oltenia, scene from the "Rodica" painting 1998 1 June 1998 New, upgraded banknotes were introduced in which two new denominations were introduced: 50,000 and 100,000 Lei. The 50,000 Lei had two variants with minimal graphical changes and the new 50,000 from 2000 had a tilting security feature at the violin, just like the 100,000 with the leaves. The 10,000 Lei received a colour changing strip, the first to be introduced in Romania.
1999–2003 issue 1999 Series - polymer Image Value Dimensions Main Colour Description Date of Obverse Reverse Obverse Reverse printing issue withdrawal lapse 2,000 L 143 × 63 mm Blue, yellow, red Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 Map of Romania 1999 2 August 1999 1 December 2004 1 April 2005 10,000 L 150 × 67 mm Green Nicolae Iorga, Milkweed gentian Cathedral of Curtea de Argeș 2000 18 September 2000 1 January 2007 Indefinite 50,000 L 155 × 70 mm Violet George Enescu, Carnation Romanian Athenaeum, musical chord from "Oedip King" 2001 14 December 2001 100,000 L 160 × 73 mm Orange, light red Nicolae Grigorescu, Marshmallow traditional house from Oltenia, scene from the "Rodica" painting 12 November 2001 500,000 L 165 × 76 mm Yellow Aurel Vlaicu, Edelweiss A Vlaicu II airplane design 2000 23 October 2000 168 × 78 mm Blue Ion Luca Caragiale, Sweet violet National Theatre of Bucharest (old building) 2003 5 December 2003
A 500 lei coin and the 2,000 lei note shown above were made in order to celebrate the 1999 total solar eclipse. Whereas the 500 lei coin is currently very rare, becoming a prized collector's item, the 2,000 lei note 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). The 2,000 Lei note became the first ever polymer note in Romania (and also in Europe) and was printed by Note Printing Australia in Melbourne.
Banknotes of the fourth leu (RON) The leu notes issued on 1 July 2005 are of equal size to euro banknotes, so that machines will need less refitting once Romania joins 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 were rather long and fairly uncomfortable to carry.