2 Lei - Carol I Essai

Romania's entry into the First World War was still a year away in 1914, but the Monetăria Statului was already preparing revised coinage under Carol I's aging administration. This essai — a struck trial piece for official evaluation rather than a pattern intended for public circulation — was produced as part of a broader reassessment of the Lei series that would ultimately be interrupted by the war and Carol I's death in October of that same year. The accession of Ferdinand I effectively shelved the entire program.