1 Leu

Romania's post-Ceaușescu monetary transition was messy. The 1990s saw rampant inflation gut the leu's purchasing power so thoroughly that by mid-decade, the 1 leu denomination had become effectively worthless in daily transactions. These copper-plated steel pieces, introduced in 1992 as the new government scrambled to modernize coinage infrastructure, were obsolete almost before they reached circulation. The entire leu series was eventually redenominated in 2005 at a ratio of 10,000 old lei to 1 new leu.