Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Leu - Carol I
| Issuer | Monetăria Statului (State Mint), Romania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1884-1885 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Leu |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The crowned Romanian royal coat of arms occupies the central field, displaying a quartered shield with the emblems of the historic principalities — the eagle of Wallachia, the aurochs head of Moldavia, the Danubian dolphins, and the lion of Oltenia — surmounted by a royal crown and supported by two rampant lions. A scroll beneath the shield bears the motto NIHIL SINE DEO. The denomination numeral 1 appears to the left of the arms and the letter L to the right. The mint mark B and the date 1884 are inscribed in the lower field, with the entire design enclosed within a beaded border. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | 1884 B - - 1,000,000 1885 B - - 400,000 |
| Additional information |
Romania's 1 Leu of this period was struck as the country consolidated its monetary identity following independence from Ottoman suzerainty in 1877 and formal recognition of the Kingdom in 1881. The leu had been pegged to the Latin Monetary Union framework since 1867, and these silver issues conformed precisely to LMU specifications — a deliberate signal that Bucharest considered itself part of the European monetary order even before full diplomatic recognition arrived.
Carol I had lobbied aggressively for LMU membership throughout the 1870s and 1880s, though Romania never achieved formal admission. These coins circulated freely across LMU member borders regardless.