The five lei banknote is one of the circulating denomination of the
Romanian leu
The Romanian leu (, plural lei ; ISO code: RON; numeric code: 946) is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 (, singular: ), a word that means "money" in Romanian.
Etymology
The name of the currency means "lion", and is derive ...
. It is the same size as the
10 Euro banknote.
The main color of the banknote is purple. It pictures, on the obverse
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
and violinist
George Enescu, and on the reverse the
Romanian Athenaeum
The Romanian Athenaeum ( ro, Ateneul Român) is a concert hall in the center of Bucharest, Romania, and a landmark of the Romanian capital city. Opened in 1888, the ornate, domed, circular building is the city's most prestigious concert hall an ...
, headquarters of the
George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, a
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, and a line from his opera,
Å’dipe .
History
In the past, the denomination was also in the coin form, as follows:
five lei (1867-1947)
* banknote issue: 1877 (the hypothecary issue)
* coin issues: 1880, 1881 (re-issues: 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885), 1901, 1906 (gold, celebration issue)
* banknote issues: 1914 (re-issues: 1916, 1917, 1920, 1928, 1929), ''1917 (issued by the Romanian General Bank and circulated in the German occupation area between 1917-1918)''
* coin issues: 1930, 1942
* ''banknote issue: 1944 (issued by the Red Army Comandament and circulated in 1944)''
Second leu (1947-1952)
* coin issues: 1947, 1948 (re-issues: 1949, 1950)
Third leu - ROL (1952-2005)
* banknote issues: 1952, 1966
* coin issues: 1978, 1992 (re-issues: 1993, 1994, 1995)
Fourth leu - RON (since 2005)
* banknote issue: 2005 (redesigned issue of the former 50.000 lei banknote, whereas 50.000 third lei = 5 fourth lei)
References
National Bank of Romania website
Banknotes of Romania
Five-base-unit banknotes
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