Catalog
20 Lei
| Issuer | Banca Națională a României |
|---|---|
| Year | 1881-1895 |
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| Reference(s) | P#13 |
| Obverse description | Central vignette presents two allegorical seated figures — a female figure at left holding a quill and a youth at right bearing the caduceus of Mercury — set on an architectural pedestal flanked by ornate guilloche-framed oval blank medallions. The bank title appears in a decorative cartouche at the top, with the denomination DOUE DIECI LEI in bold letterpress below, and three signature lines for Guvernator, Director, and Casier Central in the central field. The word ROMANIA appears in rectangular panels at lower left and right, with serial number and series references in the corners. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANCA NATIONALE A ROMANIEI 18 Marte 1893 DOUE DIECI LEI GUVERNATOR DIRECTOR CASIER CENTRAL ROMANIA ROMANIA 20 20 20 GEORGES DUVAL fecit. P. DUJARDIN sc. |
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| Comments |
The P#13 20 Lei series runs from 1881 to 1895, making it one of the earliest notes issued by the Banca Națională a României, which had only been established in 1880. The institution was modeled closely on the Banque Nationale de Belgique, and the decision to commission French artists — Duval for the design, Dujardin for the engraving — reflects the broader pattern of young Romanian financial institutions outsourcing prestige printing to Western European specialists.
The printed date of 30 April 1945 is the detail that demands attention. By that point Romania was under Soviet-backed administration following the August 1944 armistice, and wartime inflation had badly eroded purchasing power. Late impressions of this plate, struck over six decades after the original issue dates, were emergency stop-gap measures rather than considered monetary policy.