20 Lei - Carol II Pattern

Pattern coinage for Romania's 1940 20 Lei was produced as Carol II's reign was collapsing around him. By September of that year, he had been forced to cede northern Transylvania to Hungary under the Second Vienna Award, then abdicated under pressure from the Iron Guard and the military, fleeing the country entirely. A gold-clad copper pattern rather than a struck gold issue suggests the treasury was already in no position to commit to a precious-metal circulation coin.

Stamb#177/1.2 distinguishes this specific die pairing within the pattern series.