5 Bani - Carol I Pattern Strike

Romania's first decimal coinage was authorized in 1867 following the country's adoption of the Latin Monetary Union framework, with pattern strikes produced in multiple compositions to help authorities settle on a final alloy. This copper-nickel example was ultimately rejected in favor of pure copper for the circulating issue — a decision that makes surviving patterns disproportionately scarce relative to the regular series.

Carol I had been on the throne less than a year when these trials were struck, having arrived in Bucharest only in May 1866.