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The Romanian leu (, plural lei ; ISO code: RON; numeric code: 946) is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani (, singular: ban ), a word that also means "money" in the Romanian language.
On 22 April 1867, a Bimetallism was adopted, with the leu equal to 5 grams of 83.5% silver or 0.29032 grams of gold. The first leu coin was minted in Romania in 1870.
Before 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), Ottoman lira (22.70 lei), Russian rubles (20.60 lei) and British sovereigns (25.22 lei).
Romania left the gold standard in 1914 and the leu's value fell. The exchange rate was pegged at 167.20 lei to US$1 on 7 February 1929, US$1 = 135.95 lei on 5 November 1936, US$1 = 204.29 lei on 18 May 1940, and US$1 = 187.48 lei on 31 March 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 to RM 1, falling to 59.5 lei = RM 1 in April 1941. During USSR occupation, the exchange rate was 1 ruble to 100 lei. After the war, the value of the currency fell dramatically Romania New Leu , Global Financial Data.com and the National Bank issued a new leu, which was worth 20,000 old lei.
Out of the 48.5 billion old lei in circulation, only around half were changed to stabilized lei. The most affected was the middle class and upper class Social class, who were later also affected by the nationalization of 1948. At the time of its introduction, 150 new lei equalled 1 US dollar.
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 ten 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 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 partial food rationing in 1980 and full rationing for all basic foods in 1986/87. This was a major factor in growing discontent with Ceaușescu, and contributed in part to the fall of the Communist regime in 1989.
In the post-communist period, there has been a switch in the material used for banknotes and coins. Banknotes have switched from special paper to special plastic, while coins switched from aluminum to more common coin alloys (probably partly due to technical limitations of coin-operated vending machines). The transition has been gradual for both, but much faster for the banknotes which are currently all made of plastic. There has been a period in which all banknotes were made of plastic and all coins were made of aluminum, a very distinctive combination.
After the downfall of communism in the 1990s, inflation ran high due to reform failures, the legalization of owning foreign currency in 1990, 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 single-digit inflation in 2005.
The Romanian leu was briefly 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 banknote was not the highest Romanian denomination ever; a 5,000,000 lei note had been issued in 1947.
As of 2006, the revaluation was a potential source of confusion, especially to visitors, since both old and new currency values were 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. As of 2020, it is still common to call 100 lei "un milion" or one million and 500 lei "cinci milioane" or five million.
In 1900, cupronickel 5, 10, and 20 ban coins were introduced, with holed versions following in 1905. The production of coins ceased in 1914, recommencing in 1921 with aluminum 25 and 50 ban pieces. Cupronickel 1 and 2 lei coins were introduced in 1924, followed by nickel brass 5, 10, and 20 lei in 1930. In 1932, silver 100 lei coins were issued. However, inflation meant that in 1935, smaller silver 250 lei coins were introduced with nickel 100 lei coins being issued in 1936, followed by nickel 50 lei in 1937.
In 1941 and 1942, zinc 2, 5, and 20 lei coins were introduced, together with silver 200 and 500 lei. Nickel-clad-steel 100 lei followed in 1943, with brass 200, and 500 lei issued in 1945. In 1946 and 1947, postwar inflation brought the exchange rate even lower, and a new coinage was issued consisting of aluminum 500 lei, brass 2,000, and 10,000 lei, and silver 25,000, and 100,000 lei.
In 1960, a new series of coins was issued in denominations of 5, 15, & 25 bani and 1 and 3 lei struck in nickel-plated steel. Starting in 1966, the name on all coins was changed to "Republica Socialistă România" following the ascent of Nicolae Ceaușescu, though all pre-1966 coins of these denominations remained valid. In 1975, the composition of 5 and 15 ban coins was changed to aluminum, and the 25 bani followed suit in 1982. In 1978, an aluminum 5 leu coin was introduced. These denominations remained in use until 1991, particularly the 5 lei, following the lifting of state-mandated exchange rates and price controls.
In 1991, a new coin series with post-communist iconography and new valuations was released in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 lei. These coins gradually lost value with inflation, and a new series was introduced in 1998 with an aluminum-magnesium alloy 500 leu and 1,000 and 5,000 leu coins in 2000.
The current coins of the Romanian leu are by any objective standards of functional austere design, surpassing in lack of decoration even the plainest Communist-era predecessors.
The one ban coin was rarely seen and not in demand by either banks or many retailers; the 'situation' has changed and the coin is not uncommonly found (as of 2015). Supermarkets continue habitually to advertise prices such as 9.99 (lei), and frequently price goods to the precise ban such as 9,47; Gândul, Moneda de 1 ban n-are căutare, 3 November 2005. Accessed on 1 January 2007 indeed, as of 2014, very few of the prices displayed at the Carrefour online site (for example) display prices to the nearest 5 or 10 bani. In practice, many retailers round totals to the nearest 5 or 10 bani for cash payments, or even whole leu, although (inter)national supermarket chains generally give exact change. For card payments the exact amount (not rounded) is always charged. The reversion to single ban pricing (and change giving) is perhaps due to the (effective) government drive for shops/businesses to give a receipt, an accurate bon fiscal (to avoid tax evasion) for every transaction. Official notices must be prominently displayed in all shops/restaurants that an accurate receipt must be given.
In 1914, five leu notes were reintroduced, followed by one and two leu notes in 1915 and 500 lei in 1916. The Ministry of Finance issued very small-sized notes for 10, 25 and 50 bani in 1917. 5,000 lei notes were introduced in 1940, followed by 10,000 and 100,000 lei in 1945 and 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 lei in 1947. In 1945, the Ministry of Finance issued 20 and 100 leu notes to replace those of the National Bank.
In 1991, 500 and 1,000 leu notes were introduced, followed by 200 and 5,000 leu notes in 1992, 10,000 lei in 1994, 50,000 lei in 1996, 100,000 lei in 1998, 500,000 lei in 2000 and 1,000,000 lei in 2003. There was also a commemorative 2,000 lei note introduced in 1999 celebrating the total solar eclipse that occurred on 11 August 1999. The final issues of the 2,000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 lei were polymer banknote.
Notes in circulation at the revaluation were:
In preparation for Romania joining the Eurozone, banknotes of the fourth leu are of equal size to Euro banknotes.
The banknote was introduced by the National Bank of Romania in November 2021.
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