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2 Lei - Carol I
| Issuer | Romania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 10 g |
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| Obverse description | Left-facing draped bust of Prince Carol I within a beaded border. The engraver's name KULLRICH appears beneath the neck truncation. The circular legend CAROL I DOMNUL ROMANIEI runs along the periphery in Latin script, identifying the ruler as Prince of Romania. The portrait is rendered in a refined neoclassical style characteristic of mid-19th-century European coinage. |
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| Mintage | 1881 V - Varieties with and without lines in the ear - 1,150,000 |
| Additional information |
1881 was the year Romania formally proclaimed itself a kingdom, ending its status as a principality under nominal Ottoman suzerainty. Carol I was crowned king on March 26th, and this issue was struck specifically to mark that constitutional transformation — the first coinage bearing the royal rather than princely title. The timing was deliberate and the political signal unmistakable to every trading partner and foreign court watching the Balkans.
The .835 fineness aligns Romania with the Latin Monetary Union standard, which Bucharest had been observing since 1867 despite never formally joining as a full member.