20 Lei - Carol I

Romania's first gold coinage as a modern state emerged from a peculiar constitutional moment: Carol I had been ruling as Domn (Prince) since 1866, but the country had not yet established a functioning national mint or a coherent monetary framework. These 1868 pieces were struck in Brussels, at the Monnaie Royale de Belgique, Romania having neither the infrastructure nor the political stability to produce gold domestically. The Latin Monetary Union's specifications — to which Romania would formally adhere in 1889 — effectively dictated the coin's parameters years before membership.

KM#5 is the first year of the type. Brussels mintmark is the key diagnostic for attribution.