Tag: commemorative

Romania – new 100 lei commemorative banknote

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100 years since the Great Union on 1 December 1918

Characteristics

  • size: 147 x 82 mm, with ±1 mm tolerance;
  • prevailing colour: blue;
  • polymer substrate, printed in plane/relief mixed technique; and
  • complex transparent window.

The obverse of the banknote shows the following representative graphical elements: on the right side, the portraits of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria; below, on two lines, their names and life spans, namely “REGELE FERDINAND I 1865-1927” and “REGINA MARIA 1875-1938”. In the central area, an image depicting the Great National Assembly in Alba Iulia, on 1 December 1918.

The obverse also shows: the coat of arms of Romania, in the upper left part, the name of the issuing central bank “BANCA NAȚIONALĂ A ROMÂNIEI”, in the upper part horizontally, and below, the NBR logo in a medallion and, further down, the years “1918-2018”. The face value is printed four times, as follows: in the lower left corner, horizontally, in figures, “100”; in the lower central area, in letters, on two lines, “LEI UNA SUTĂ”; in the lower right corner, vertically, in letters, “UNA SUTĂ LEI” and in the upper right corner, vertically, in figures, “100”.

The signatures of the Governor and the Chief Cashier are printed in the central area, above the face value in letters.

The date of putting the banknote into circulation, i.e. “1 decembrie 2018”, is printed vertically, on the right side.

The reverse of the banknote features the arrival of the royal cortege in Bucharest, on 1 December 1918, and part of the mace of King Ferdinand I, together with four women in folk costumes typical of each united Romanian province: Bessarabia, Romania, Transylvania and Bukovina.

Below is the text “FALSIFICAREA ACESTOR BILETE SE PEDEPSEȘTE CONFORM LEGILOR” (Forgery is punished according to the law).

The name of the issuing central bank “BANCA NAȚIONALĂ A ROMÂNIEI” is placed in the upper part, horizontally, and the NBR logo is printed in the upper right corner and in the lower left corner. The face value is printed as follows: vertically, in the upper left corner, and horizontally, in the lower right corner in figures, “100” and horizontally, in the lower left corner in letters, “UNA SUTĂ LEI”.

The serial number of the banknote is printed in letters and figures, in red and black ink, as follows: on the left side, horizontally, in red ink, with fonts of ascending height and on the right side, vertically, in black ink.

As protection against forgery, the banknote includes the following security features:

  1. Security features in the polymer substrate:
    1. complex transparent window, vertically, featuring the portraits of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria, the text “ROMÂNIA”, a band of variable colour and a security feature visible when held against the light, which appears in the middle of the stylised flower;
    2. watermark (part of the mace of King Ferdinand I and the NBR logo), placed on the left side of the obverse, visible when the note is held up to the light;
    3. the text “ROMÂNIA 100” on the edges of the transparent window;
    4. microtext on the magnetic security thread, in negative: “1 DECEMBRIE 1918 1 DECEMBRIE 2018”.
  2. Security features added via printing:
    1. raised print, detectable by touch:
      • on the obverse: the portraits of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria, the image depicting the Great National Assembly in Alba Iulia, on 1 December 1918, the coat of arms of Romania, the name of the issuing central bank “BANCA NAŢIONALĂ A ROMÂNIEI”, the NBR logo in a medallion, the face value in figures and letters, and the embossed feature “100” in the transparent window;
      • on the reverse: part of the mace of King Ferdinand I, the name of the issuing central bank, the NBR logo, the face value in figures and letters, and the rectangle with the NBR logo;
    2. special ink shifting from golden to green when the banknote is tilted, on the obverse, on two lines, the text “LEI UNA SUTĂ”;
    3. latent image on the reverse, below the image of the mace of King Ferdinand I, the face value “100” becoming visible when the banknote is tilted;
    4. superposed image depicting part of the “Mihai Viteazul” Military Order, which was introduced by King Ferdinand I in recognition of the acts of bravery during World War I. Parts of this are shown on both obverse and reverse, and the superposition becomes visible when the note is held up to the light.
    5. laser micro-perforations: the face value “100” placed vertically, in the central area.

This numismatic issue has 10,000 banknotes.

The commemorative collector banknote comes with a leaflet and is put into circulation through the regional branches of the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iaşi and Timişoara.

Source: Banca Nationala a Romaniei