3 Ducats

Moldavia's 3 Ducat note of 1857 is among the earliest paper issues from any Romanian principality, predating the formation of the United Principalities under Alexandru Ioan Cuza by two years. The choice of "ducat" as the denomination unit is telling — no Moldavian ducat coin existed in contemporary circulation; the term was a reference denomination used to anchor paper value to a familiar historic concept rather than a functioning metallic standard.

Giesecke & Devrient had only recently established themselves as a banknote printer when this commission was placed, Leipzig being a natural choice for a principality still within the Ottoman sphere but actively cultivating Western European institutional credibility.