10 Lei Ion Neculce

Ion Neculce was an 18th-century Moldavian boyar and chronicler whose O samă de cuvinte — a collection of oral traditions and historical anecdotes preceding his main chronicle — is considered the earliest work of Romanian-language literary prose. The National Bank of Romania has issued commemorative silver pieces honoring figures from Romanian cultural history with some regularity, and Neculce fits squarely into that program.

His chronicle covers Moldavian history from roughly 1661 to 1743, drawing on personal observation for its later sections — he served under Dimitrie Cantemir and fled to Russia after the Ottoman victory at Stănilești in 1711.