Romanian leu

The Romanian leu (lew, plural lei lej; ISO code: RON; numeric code: 946) is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 bani (banj, singular: ban ban), a word that means both "money" and "coin" in the Romanian language. The name of the currency means "lion", and is derived from the Dutch thaler (leeuwendaalder "lion thaler/dollar"). The Dutch leeuwendaalder was imitated in several German and Italian cities. These coins circulated in Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria and gave their name to their respective currencies: the Romanian leu, the Moldovan leu and the Bulgarian lev. History of Romanian coins In 1860, the Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza attempted to create a national românul ("the Romanian") and the romanat; however, the project was not approved by the Ottoman Empire. On 22 April 1867, a bimetallic currency 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 Soviet occupation, the exchange rate was 1 ruble to 100 lei.